Enter the Pilot
by CdnShockwave
Summary: All 11 chapters are now up!
1. Enter the Pilot: Act 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

-by CdnShockwave

**Act 1**

**Arrival**

          "Gai! For you! This one's for you buddy!" Akito screamed as he thrust full speed ahead towards the possessed Aestivalis. "Gekigan Flaaaare!" he cried. A brilliant flash of light was followed by a tremendous explosion, and a triumphant Akito Tenkawa. The Aestivalis pilots returned to the Nadesico, paying little attention to the small flash of light and black streak flying out of the ruined colony.

                    :::A few days later:::

          Yurika covered her mouth as she let out a big yawn.

          "This really is boring," she muttered to herself. 

          "Enemy attack incoming," Ruri said dully. 

          "What? Where!? Scramble the fighters!" Yurika ordered, leaping up from her seat. 

          "Unnecessary." Ruri explained to the slightly ditzy captain. "The distortion field is operating in automatic mode. Since the Jovial lizards haven't mounted a serious attack against the Nadesico since the L2 colony, it would appear that they are merely probing the strengths and capacities of this ship. This will probably continue until we enter Mars space, where they will enjoy overwhelming numerical superiority. Does that concur with our analysis, Captain?"

          "You certainly are perceptive for just a kid," Yurika said, taken aback slightly by the young science officer's observations.

          "I'm twelve not a kid," Ruri said in her usual emotionless voice. "You're blocking my view. Would you please return to your seat, Captain?"

          "Yeah sure." Yurika replied in a board voice. "I guess I won't have much to do until we get to Mars either," she was cut off suddenly by a vid window, with a slightly stressed looking Mr. Prospector in the centre of it. 

          "Captain, what are you doing on the bridge? We can't begin the ceremony without you so please hurry!" he said.

          "Oh gosh! That's right! I forgot!" Yurika got up from her seat and ran off the bridge.

          "And make sure you're properly dressed!" Mr. Prospector called after her. 

          "Right!" Yurika called back.

          "Idiots." Ruri said to no one in particular. 

          The next few days were filled with the sounds of drumming, chanting, and praying as the Captain Yurika Misumaru fulfilled her duties to those who had perished. They're strategic situation also stayed the same, with small blast waves from Jovian craft bouncing this way and that off the Nadesico's distortion field. 

          "Ahh…its finally over," Yurika moaned with her face against her control panel.

          "Potential enemy craft approaching from 30 degrees to stern at a speed of 25.65 kilometers per second," Ruri informed her.

          "What?" Yurika cried, jumping out of her seat. "Bring it up on the main screen! All pilots to alert status, immediately!"

          "Displaying object on screen," Ruri said as a vid window popped up. However, there was not much to look at.

          "Ruri, I ordered the unidentified craft be brought up on screen. Where is it?" Yurika asked puzzled. 

          "Apparently the space craft has been painted in such a manner to avoid visual detection. However, there are clues to its whereabouts due to slight colour variation," Ruri explained.

          "What do you mean?" asked the Captain.

          "You will notice that the area containing the space craft stands out when closely examined. There are no stars present in this area. Further more, there are small sections where the colour changes from black to grey and purple," Ruri said, highlighting noticeable colour variations on the unidentified object. "Displaying heat and radar signatures," Another vid window appeared, divided into two sections. One was a thermal imaging scan showing the heat output and a rough outline of the ship. The other section showed the ship's sonic signature. 

          "Ruri, why is the radar screen not picking it up?" Yurika asked. 

          "Apparently whoever designed this ship intended it to be invisible to radar, as well as partially invisible to heat sensing instruments," replied Ruri.  Just then, the visual image showed ship in more detail as bands of light running along the exterior of the ship lit up.

          "It looks like one of those old stealth bombers they used to use. But what would such a ship be doing out here?" asked a puzzled Yurika. "Ruri, slow the ship down. Megumi, I want all Aestivalis deployed but they are under strict orders not to fire unless fired upon. We don't know what this thing is yet, or whether its friendly or not," the Aestivalis launched and approached the mystery ship, which had slowed down, but still slowly gaining on the Nadesico. When the Aestivalis were within a few hundred meters of the ship, it slowed even more, approaching the giant mechas at a cautious speed. 

          "Captain, I'm receiving a transmission from the unidentified craft, patching it through now," Megumi said. But the message was garbled and full of static. It was impossible to see who, or what, was trying to contact them let alone understand what they were saying. "It's too garbled, it doesn't know the proper frequency," after a few minutes of gibberish on the screen, the lights on the ship began to flicker on and off.

          "Is that…?" asked Ryoko. "That looks like mores code. But they haven't used that for well over a hundred years! Whatever this thing is, its way behind the times,"

          "Ruri, can you tell that it's saying?" asked the Captain.

          "Yes Ma'am. It's hard to make out but I believe it is saying "Friend. No shoot. Come aboard?" replied Ruri. Whoever was using the code was very rusty, even Ruri had a tough time deciphering it.

          "Can you send a message back to him via the identification lights on one of the Aestivalis?"

          "Yes Ma'am."

          "Good. Tell it in as simply as possible that the Aestivalis will escort it into the hangar. We will not shoot,"

          "Isn't it dangerous to have something like that come inside the ship?" asked a worried Megumi. "What if its some new weapon the Jovians are using?" 

          "Which is why we are going to seal the hangar off with Uribatake's distortion-block thingy, whatever he calls it. Apparently it can create a distortion field within one section of the ship…or at least that's what it's supposed to do. With his inventions you never can tell." answered Yurika. "Do you really think I'd let a potential enemy inside the ship without taking precautions?"

          Ruri sent the message to come aboard through the identification light on Akito's Aestivalis. The ship replied with 'affirmative' and followed the Aesties into the hangar. The Aesties stood around the ship when it landed with their large robotic hands ready to pull out their rifles and fire on the ship if need be. A fully armored security team was also on standby. The ship looked remarkably similar to an old B2 stealth bomber. It was painted primarily black, with metallic grey under the wings and a dark purple on two strange appendages under the fuselage at the rear of the craft. There was also an odd, cylinder shaped attachment at the rear, near the primary engines.  It had two sides, one end appeared to be a giant boost thruster, and the other end had six holes around the edge, which everyone assumed to be a gattling gun of some sort. However, it did not appear to be just one craft. While the cockpit was clearly visable with its mirrored windows, there was another mirrored window in the middle of the ship's back. 

          "It would appear that we are not dealing with a single ship," said Ruri. "There seems to be a smaller ship attached to the middle of the primary craft," 

However, before Ruri could continue with her explanation a small hatch under the cockpit opened and a ladder extended down towards the floor. There was a loud hissing noise as cold, pressurized air was released from inside, creating a mist effect around the ship. The security team aimed their machine guns at the ladder, expecting some new type of Jovian weapon. 

          "What gives? Some flashy special effects and a shiny bucket of bolts. I say we chuck this thing back to wherever it came from," said an annoyed Ryoko from her Aesti cockpit. "I mean…" She was cut off by the quiet sound of footsteps coming down the ladder. It was difficult to tell exactly what was emerging from the ship due to the mist, which seemed to cling to the air surrounding the ship. When the mysterious figure reached the bottom, it slowly walked forward towards the security team, and behind them stood Yurika and Jun. The figure emerged from the mist. It was obviously humanoid, but with the advanced robotic technology possessed by the Jovials, Yurika couldn't know for certain. The figure moved its arms to its metallic head and unclipped a facet. It then pulled the headpiece off. 

          "Uh…hi?" called the figure, who was a young man, looking about the age of 23. He was tall, approximately 6 foot 2 with sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was also not bad looking, if you were to see what most of the female crew were thinking at that particular moment. The suit he was wearing was not a standard issue pilot's suit. Instead it was a complete metal exosuit. There was a strange insignia engraved on the right arm of the suit that looked as though it had been scratched out. The crowd surrounding the mysterious visitor all stared at him. "I come in peace," he said mockingly at the security team, and let out a small laugh. At this reaction, a laser target appeared on the figure's forehead. "Uh oh,"

          "Men, stand down. Ruri, take us off of security alert," Yurika ordered and walked up to the young man. "I am Yurika Misumaru, Captain of the Nadesico. I ask that you state your name, rank, and your commanding organization, please," the man stood up straight.

          "I am like a wanderer, seeking the elusive mayfly known as love. I am Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gumbigobilla Blue Stradivariia AndrT Charton HaymossIv anoviccie Baldeus George doitzel Kaiser the Third. Don't hesitate to call,"

"Huh?" there was a collective sound of confusion.

"Just what are you babbling about?" Yurika demanded.

"Hmm. I see…well, since you ask so nicely…I am Lieutenant first class Finn Saotome of Nergal Special Forces Division, reporting, Captain," he saluted the Captain, although it was hard to tell if he was a serious soldier or another idiot come to join the ship of fools. Everyone, predictably, turned their attention to their Nergal officer, Prospector. He pushed his glasses up with his middle finger, cleared his throat, and stepped forward. 

          "Nergal Special Forces Division you say?" he said sounding slightly unsure of what he had just heard. "I thought they had been abolished after that incident with the…" He stopped short, remembering that that information was classified.

          "Yes, we were. Or at least that is what the report said. 'Due to the instability of the Jovian technology on human test subjects all further experiments will be frozen immediately and permanently.' I believe was the exact wording of it. However, as you are well aware, Nergal does not always operate as the reports say. I think the fact that the Nadesico is even here on its way to Mars is proof enough of that. We continued work in a place that I could tell you all, but then would have to kill you, and I really don't want to do that." replied Finn. He seemed harmless enough.

          "And just what is your reason for being here?" asked the Yurika.

          "To put it simply, I'm here as another pilot to aid you in fighting the Jovians. The last orders I received were to be ready on alert status incase of Jovian attack." Finn replied, although his voice sounded so…Vash the Stampede-ish it was difficult to tell.

          "I see. I wish to learn more about why you're here. Please come with us to the bridge and you can explain in greater detail. Ryoko, I want you and all the other pilots to be there as well," Yurika asked, or rather ordered, and they made their way up to the bridge.

"Very educational," Finn noted as he followed Yurika and the others down the corridors.

 When they arrived, the crew took their respected places. Finn stood in the middle of the large room, still in his robotic suit and holding his helmet against his side. 

"Now then, explain yourself."

          "As you know I am part of the Nergal Special Forces Division stationed at undisclosed location. The ship, or rather ships, you saw me arrive in are known as the TF, or Transformable Fighters." Finn explained.

          "Ships? You mean that your ship is more than one space craft?" Yurika asked.

          "Exactly. The main shell is known as Artillery Combat Frame or ACF. In the middle back another; smaller, yet more maneuverable ship is stored. When needed it simply detaches itself from the ACF. I am the test pilot for the prototype unit you just saw." replied Finn. "Pretty cool, don't you think?"

          "And just what exactly are you doing here? If you're a test pilot, shouldn't you be out…test piloting?" inquired Yurika.

          "Well, seeing how the research team who build the TFs is now a collection of vapors floating around space, I guess my orders were to assist you on you're way to Mars." said Finn.

          "But how are you supposed to fight in that flying Frisbee? I thought only Aestevalis type units were effective against Jovian weapons?" asked Ryoko, who seemed to dislike the latest addition to the crew.

          "You'll find out. It possesses certain abilities you might find surprising," replied Finn coolly. "For example!" he hit a button in his wrist and a vidwindow popped up. "It comes fully loaded, a plutonium nuclear reactor, heated leather seats, air conditioning, IFS and manual control options, and Kevlar restraints! The new robots are sleek sexy import with turbo handling. Test drive the latest model…" 

          "Enough. Mr. Prospector, what are you thoughts on this?" asked Yurika.

          "Well, Captain. I see no reason why we shouldn't accept his help. Even though his division was supposed to have ceased to exist, I believe we would be of great assistance when we reach Mars. It could save us on repairs and…" He began madly working on his calculator. "Yes, I believe it would be of great economic and strategic importance to keep Lt. Saotome on board this ship as a member of the crew."

          "Its settled then. Lt. Saotome, as the Captain of the Nadesico I welcome you aboard." The Captain said. "My darling Akito will show you to a spare room. You are all dismissed." 

"I'm so happy!" Finn mock-wept an little waterfalls fell from his eyes. 

Akito and Finn walked off the bridge. As soon as the door closed Finn questioned Akito on a certain subject.

          "'My darling Akito'?" Finn asked, snickering. "What's that about?"

          "I er…well…" Akito stammered. "She's a nut!"

          "I see, one of those relationships,"

          "What? No, there's no way I'm interested in that female nutcase!"

          "Very educational," Finn said, producing a small notebook from inside his suit and scribbling something in it. "Come on man, I saw the way she looked at you. Don't deny it, young Akito. So, how far have you gone exactly? I'd imagine with her you'd have already done the…"

          "Gah! Stop that! I haven't done that with her. As a matter of fact I haven't…" Akito stopped short.

          "Haven't what?" Finn asked, already knowing the answer. "Oohh, not wise in the ways of the woman, are we?" He patted Akito on the back. "Don't worry my little virgin friend, you'll give in eventually. The Captain isn't a bad catch, you two make a lovely couple." 

On the bridge, Megumi sneezed.

"Sorry, I must be catching a cold," she apologized. 

By this time Akito looked like a boiled lobster. Some maintenance crew nearby were whispering and laughing in Akito's direction. 

"Gee, I wonder what they're laughing about." Finn poked fun at poor Akito for a while longer. After a few minutes of silence, he asked. "Hey, what's up the cook's uniform? I thought you were a pilot,"

          "I'm not a pilot! I'm just a freakin cook!" Akito cried. 

          "Wow, calm down there, buddy," Finn said. "So when why were you out in the aestivalis, my jittery friend?"

          "Its all because of this," Akito showed Finn his IFS implant on his hand. "I don't want to pilot, but everyone expects if of me. I only joined the Nadesico as a cook! Speaking of uniforms…what's with the metal suit?"

          "Oh yeah. Its part of my control interface for the TFs. Its kind of an enhanced IFS implant only it connects throughout your entire body instead of just through your hand. It allows for faster reaction time," Finn explained. His metal feet making slight clunking noises as they walked.

          "Ok, here we are," Akito stopped at a room with no nameplate. "It's right next to Uribatake's room, so if you hear any strange noises, like…lets say explosions, don't worry about it," 

          "I see. This is so educational," he scribbled down in his notebook. "Well, thanks young Akito. I'll see you around then," he shook Akito's hand and disappeared into the room. It was exactly the same as Akito's. Some standard issue Nergal cloths were in the closet, things like t-shirts, sweatpants. Finn removed his metal suit, which was surprisingly light and very easy to get into and out of. Underneath he was wearing a Nergal pilot's uniform, which was normally red, but this one was black. "I guess I might as well unpack," he said to himself. Only realizing he had left the small case containing a few spare uniforms in the ACF. 'I'll get them later, he thought. In the meantime, I need to get some sleep,'

**Screwing it up**

          Finn was awaked by a loud explosion, followed by a loud scream. 

"Hark! I here the sound of a woman screaming!" he bolted out of his bunk and ran for the door. It came from Uribatake's room. A small whisp of smoke was coming from under the door. Finn tried to open it, but it had been jammed shut. He took a few steps back and ran his shoulder into the door, causing it to give a little, but enough to slid the door open. Inside it was difficult to see, the air was thick with smoke. He found Seiya laying on the floor dazed. His hair was singed and his face was slightly burnt. 

          "Hey, wake up. You all right?" Finn poking the man.

          "Meatballs and horseradish for all!" Replied Seiya, obviously left a little loopy after the explosion.

          "What happened in here?!" coughed Ryoko. She had been nearby and heard the explosion. 

          "I wanna ride the pony again Momma," Seiya cried.

          "Oookaay…" Ryoko looked confused.

          "Its all right. I think he's going to be ok." 

          "More tea Mr. Bunny? Why I'd love some," Seiya said, still swirly eyed.

          "Quiet you,"

          "Your majesty, tis a pleasure to meet you!" Seiya said, starting to get on Finn's nerves.

          "Snap out of it man!" Finn yelled and slapped him across the face. Seiya groaned.

          "Oow. What hit me?" he groaned.

          "You tell us." Ryoko said.

          "Hello there, I'm Lethal Lilly! Version 2.0!" Something said off in the corner. Finn went over to find out what. He came back with a robot head.

          "Just what in the name of my great-aunt's tomato soup is this thing?" Finn demanded.

          "Its well…a little project I've been working on," replied Seiya, grabbing the head away from Finn. "Sort of an android…security officer," Finn spied the rest of the body.

          "Strangely feminine," he said quietly. 

          "Er…I…" Seiya stammered.

          "Don't worry about it, just make sure that thing is wearing something the next time I see it,"

          "Speaking of cloths," Ryoko sounded slightly irritated. "Don't you think you'd better put some on?" Finn stood motionless, realizing that he was clad only in his boxer shorts. 

'Awwwwww shiiiiiiiiiiiiit,' Finn thought.

          "You make me sick," she said and stormed out of the room.

          "Huh? Hey wait!" Finn called out, but he was stopped by Seiya.

          "Forget about it, kid. There's one girl you don't have a snowball's chance with,"

          "I see…" Finn replied. 

          "Don't you think you'd better get dressed?" Seiya said, before turning back to his android.

          "Oh yeah…" Finn bolted out of Seiya's room and into his. "That was educational," he said to himself, pulling out a small notebook. 'Some women are scary,' he wrote, and then began to get dressed. 

After retrieving what remaining cloths he had from the ACF, Finn spent most of the day going over technical specifications and design manuals of the TFs with Seiya.

          "This is one complex baby you have here." Seiya commented. "Look at that thruster! Look at that cannon! I think I'm in love!"

          "You're starting to scare me," Finn answered, a sweatdrop on the back of his head. 

          "So what exactly is the point of having two ships built into one frame?"

          "Well, its similar to the Aestivalis having different frames. For example, a space frame, land frame, and what have you. The ACF is, kind of like the mother ship. Its functions are a stealth recon, heavy bomber, and long distance transport. The other frame is the high maneuverable attack frame, or MAF. It's more of a multipurpose fighter." Finn climbed into the ACF cockpit, punched in a few commands, and the MAF detached itself from the ACF. It was much smaller, and had fewer weapons on it. However, it did look fast and stealthy. "Now, you might want to check out this before I let you touch this baby." He called, tossing palmpad down to Seiya, who immediately began to scan through the data. Finn jumped down from the cockpit.

          "Ohhh baby! You mean what we have here in front of us isn't all?!" Seiya sounded aroused by the specs he saw on the screen. "Those Jovians won't know what hit them. Look at that joint construction, the reaction time, the weaponry!"

"Are you sure you're alright there?" asked Finn. 'This guy's got issues. Hmm…certainly a very educating experience,' he thought. "Anyway, I'll leave you to drool over that. I'm going to get something to eat. See ya," 

Finn walked out of the hangar and began wandering down the halls in search of the ship's galley. As he approached one corner he heard an odd sound. It sounded like a dozen grocery carts being rolled around the ship. 'Its probably nothing, it might mean I'm close to the kitchen.' Finn thought. He rounded the corner and heard a voice.

          "Get out of the way! We've got funeral stuff coming through so everyone get out of the way!" A voice screamed.

          "Tenkawa? That you?" Finn said to himself. He turned to look behind him just in time to see a large cart on wheels full of food slam right into him. The sounds of dishes breaking, food hitting the floor, and other miscellaneous kitchen items flying everywhere could be heard in every room in the hallway. Finn lay sprawled out, semi-conscious on the floor, a cracked rice bowl on his head and a whole fish sticking out of his mouth with broth dribbling down his chin. Akito looked much the same, except he was conscious. 

          "Ow. Hey, are you all right?" Akito pulled himself up off the floor, only to slip on a broken bottle of olive oil. "Finn, in that you?" he asked when he noticed the corpse of someone at the front of the pileup.

          "Gurgle," was the only sound Finn made.

          "Idiots," Ruri muttered to herself. 

          Finn made it back to his quarters after having slipped and slid most of the way there due to the olive oil all over his shoes. 'I can't get the taste of fish out of my mouth,' He complained to himself. After closing the door he took out his little notebook. "That was educational," he said to himself. 'Today's lesson, Always get out of the way of incoming traffic. Look both ways before crossing the street,' he wrote. The first day had been…eventful. So far Finn had been chewed out by Miss Howme, the kitchen staff, and Ryoko, had a team full of marines almost blew his head clean of its shoulders, had twelve different dishes smashed into him, ruined hours of hard work by the kitchen staff, and not too many people aboard the Nadesico seemed to trust him. 

          "I've had worse though," Finn chuckled to himself, remembering the 'good ol days' when he first joined Nergal. He undressed and climbed into his bunk, which was attached to the wall of the dim room. Finn felt more comfortable in the dark, and lay with his hands behind his head staring at the ceiling. On a battleship, you don't expect a kind of first class cabin with free foot massagers and hot tubes. The room was small, with a bunk bolted to the wall along the door, a closet opposite the door, and a small chair with a lamp that illuminated a small table. The soft whir of the fan blowing cool, recycled air into his room was comforting and he soon dozed off into sleep.

**Remember the past, face the future**

          A baby boy, not even a year old, woke up in the middle of the night. He cried until his mother came in to sooth him back to sleep. 

          "There there. Its all right. Mother's here, son," she whispered in his ear, and soon the boy was fast asleep in the comforting blankets of his crib, surrounded by stuffed bears and other animals. The room was warm and smelled of baby. The stench of a newborn my nauseate some, but to his mother the smell fit the room. She looked at him from the door and smiled to herself before she turned out the light and walked down the hall to her room.

The next thing the boy heard was a loud shuddering. It felt as though the entire house had been lifted off its foundation and then thrown back down. The room grew bright and dark at the same time. Under the door the boy could see a glowing light. It appeared to dance playfully. The light spread slowly under the door, engulfing the room in its brilliance. The baby giggled and laughed as the light licked the edges of his crib. Then, the light turned from a dancing friend into a monstrous demon. It rose up in the form of a red dragon. The baby cried out, tears running down his terrified face. The roar of the dragon made everything shake. Breathing became difficult. The baby struggled but could do nothing to protect itself. He was swallowed up by the black smoke from the dragon's breath and drifted into the black plumb that had engulfed him. 

          "Get him an oxygen mask, stat!" a voice cried.

          "He's loosing blood fast," another voice said.

          "Keep pressure on it, we've got to stop that bleeding," someone answered. 

          "He's pulse is fading. I'm not getting anything,"

          "Clear!" 

The boy felt at peace. Light was surrounding him. Nothing seemed frightening, his mother and father were there. Mother, father.

          "Still nothing,"

          "Again, clear!" someone was rousing him from his peaceful rest. "Again!" the boy cried out. His mother and father were washed away in a flood of bright florescent lights. 

          "I've got a pulse,"  

          "From your report, it sounds as though there were no survivors," a man behind a desk said.

          "Actually sir, there was one. A boy, about age 1, was found in the rubble," answered a woman

          "Was he damaged?" the man asked.

          "He was found under a collapsed wall. A piece of the steel support column that had been melted by the fire cut open his chest around his side and his back," she replied. 

          "Is he suitable?" Tte man pressed, not pleased with the indirect answer to his question.

          "He has no permanent damage. I believe he will be suitable as a test subject. I would not recommend him to be a permanent officer however. His scans show irregular brain activity, probably due to smoke inhalation and the fact that it took three hours, a bulldozer, and fifty rescuer workers to dig him out. I'll see to it that he's put into proper 'care' immediately," the woman said, and walked out of the room. The only clue of who these people were was a circular blue insignia on the door. 

          "So lad, ready to go?" An elderly man asked. He received no response. "Come on now, don't be shy. These people will take good care of you," he turned to a businesswoman standing before them. Don't mind him ma'am, he doesn't talk much,"

          "I've read reports that he hasn't said anything in five years," a cold voice replied. It was the voice of the woman in the office. "But he's all we have at the moment; he will suffice until our permanent officer arrives. We don't want anything, unforeseen so happen to him. Come with me…what is his name?"

          "We've called him Finny. They never found out what his real name was. I hear he was too young to be in any DNA database records," the elderly man replied. "Go on Finny, be a good lad now." 

The boy, known as Finny stepped forward, an emotionless expression on his face. The woman took his hand.

          "Lets go Finn. Time to get to work. Thank you Mr. Saotome," she led him quickly away from the man, who watched the boy he considered to be his son walk out of his life, forever. 

          "Connecting nuclear pulse engines to main power grid,"

          "All functions green. Beginning test,"

          "Roger," Said a boy, about twelve.

          "So he's speaking now," said the man from behind the desk. He sat in a large black shadow and only his hands were clearly visible.

          "That's right. Not much, Mr. Akasuki, but its enough," said the woman. "Begin test,

          "Connecting IFS interface"

          "Ma'am! There's an unusual amount of brain activity. The IFS implant is malfunctioning,

          "Engines overloading. Melt down in two minutes,

          "Cut off the main power feed and sever all connections. Shut every system down, the woman ordered. 

          "But ma'am, that will kill him!"

          "Just do it! Now!" she ordered. The main connection was severed. The boy's eyes faded for a moment, before he fell silent, and sat limp in his seat.

          "Well, I hope you're happy. We've lost our science officer," Mr. Akasuki said. "Now what will you do. The ship needs a science officer."

          "Do not worry. He was only our test subject. Ruri won't be ready for examination for another couple of years," 

Over the intercom there was the sound of coughing. "Could it be?" On the other side of the safety glass, they saw the boy crawl away from the terminal before collapsing on the floor. "Get a med-team down here right away,"

          "Its no good." A med officer said grimly. "His IFS implant was altered in the accident. It's behaving abnormally,"

          "What do you mean?" inquired a man in a lab coat.

          "Well, its spread. As you know the nanomachines self replicate until there are enough of them for the IFS to operate. But his nanomachines have over than tripled in volume. They've spread throughout his entire body,"

          "Really. Let me see the data,"

          "Yes sir. Its right here,"

The man in the lab coat looked at the computer screen. Slowly, a smile crept onto his face.

          "This gives me an idea," was all he said before leaving the room, leaving a his notes by the computer. The med officer glanced at them, the only thing written down was the name 'Project Starlight'.

          "Finn! Its time get ready, the Nadesico should be arriving soon." An officer called to Finn, who was sitting on the catwalk of the hangar holding a screwdriver in one hand, and his suit in the other. He dug the screw driver has hard into the right shoulder as he could, and carved out an X over the Nergal logo. "Finn, that's an order!"

          "Yes sir," he groaned, tossing the screwdriver onto the floor of the catwalk and throwing his suit over his arm. "I'm coming,"

          "You're mission is to aid the Nadesico on their way to Mars. You are to act on these orders until you I give you new ones, by me, and me alone. Or" The man laughed. "when the war is over,"

          "Yes sir," Finn replied. Over the years of training he had regained his sense of humour, and other emotions lost to him during his early years. It was amazing that a caged animal taught to mercilessly kill anyone who stood in its way could be this particular young man.

          "I remember the first day you came to me, boy. You looked so serious. If it weren't for the fact that you were breathing I'd have said you were dead. Looks like we straightened you out," the officer said.

          "Yes sir," Finn replied in a low voice. looking around the hangar that had pretty much been home to him for the past eleven years, and climbed into his metal suit.

          "And don't get the pilots on the Nadesico pissed," the officer laughed again. "I hear that Ryoko Subaru is one tough bitch,"

          "Sir! We're detecting gravitron waves charging just outside sector VVF-4," a voice boomed over the intercom. The officer sprinted away from Finn, shouting orders. He made it into the control room just as the space station L2 shuddered. The walls and ceilings all collapsed. Finn heard the screams and he stood beside his ship. He made a move towards the control room, but stopped short as debris rained down on him. He was partially buried under bits of steel, wiring, and rock from the asteroid the colony had been carved into. Finn closed his eyes as debris continued to rain down on him. 

'Mom, Dad,' he thought. Maybe he would finally get to meet his parents. Finn waited for a few minutes. The debris stopped falling around him. Finn opened his eyes and his face went pale. Fire was spreading throughout the hangar. 'Again…not again!' his mind screamed and he frantically tore at the debris around his body, desperately trying to get away from the fire. The flames were coming closer. Finn saw the wings of a dragon rise out of the fire, and continued to dig himself out. The dragon flew closer at him, flames spewing out of its nostrils. Finn cried out as the fire engulfed him. He could feel his skin bubbling off his bones and the searing pain as the molten hot fragments of the colony rained down on him. 'It's the same!' It's the same!' his mind screamed.

          "NO!" Finn bolted up off his bunk clutching his chest. He was drenched in a cold sweat. "That dream…again." he layback and stared at the ceiling. It was the same. The fire. The destruction. But it had been different. He had escaped somehow. The only thing he remembered was waking up aboard the ACF. The colony was still in view, but the Nadesico was only a faint blip on his scanner screens. 

His breathing slowly returned to normal, but his chest, right side, and back were aching. He glanced at the clock in the dim light. 3:47 AM it read. Turning on a light, Finn walked into his bathroom. He stared at the long, jagged scar running across his body. He didn't remember how he got that, or what relationship it had with the fire. All he knew about it was that it had something to do with fire. 'A cold shower is that I need,' he thought. The cold water running down his body felt soothing. He stared at the drain, watching the water run off his bare feet and down the drain. After his shower he got dressed in his usual black pilot's uniform. His suit caught his eye, in particular the X he carved into the Nergal logo. 'I'd never intended to make it this far. I never intended to become a weapon,' 

The plan Finn had made in his mind was to kill everyone involved with the TF programme, including himself. 'I never wanted to become a weapon,'

          As he exited his room, he realized for the first time since he woke that it was still several hours before anyone else would be awake. This filled Finn with a sense of freedom. He could explore the ship without anyone asking him question, such as who was he, and what was he looking for. After wandering around aimlessly for an hour, Finn stumbled upon the observation room. When he walked into the room, it felt like he had just stepped outside onto a grassy hill, with low rolling hills for as far as the eye could see in the early morning hours, the sun's light just beginning to creep onto the horizon. Finn knew that the room was actually no bigger than any other room, but he felt a sense of peace wash over him being 'outside'. In the centre of the room he spied a person. Upon further investigation he found a certain green haired pilot still in uniform. 

          "Hey, you awake?" Finn asked, gently touching her shoulder.

          "Mmm?" Ryoko stirred. "What is it? I'm trying to sleep,"

          "What are you doing here? I'd have thought you'd be in your quarters," Asked and answered Finn.

          "Ugh. Izumi was talking in her sleep. Something about a fiancé. Hikaru was whistling that annoying Gekigengar theme,"

          "Ahh, I see. I've got an extra bunk in my room if you want…" offered Finn.

          "Oh no you don't. How dare you try and take a girl to your room to sleep with you! You disgust me Saotome," Ryoko was now on the attack.

          "I...er…didn't mean it like that!" Finn defended himself. "I would never try something so underhanded, sneaky, and downright devious. Can't you accept a hand from anyone?" Ryoko buried her head in her arms.

          "Go away. I'll just sleep here," she said.

          "Look, I know I'm new around here but I can't let you sleep 'outside' like this. Come on, let's go," he knelt down and took her hand.

          "You let go of me you jerk!" Ryoko wheeled around and slammed her fist right into the side of Finn's face. Finn stumbled back a few feet and fell over on his back.

          "You got a wicket right arm. Yow," he half complimented, half complained, then winced in pain. 

After a few minutes of laying on his back, he got up and looked at her. "You sure you won't accept any help?"

          "Very sure. Leave me alone," Ryoko replied sleepily. Finn heaved a sigh.

          "All right then. I'll leave you alone. See ya later," he said and left. 

          Ryoko woke the later than morning. She pulled her blanket tighter around her and buried her face in her pillow. 

          "Oog. What time is it?" she managed to say, and looked at her watch. It read 6:34 AM. "That damn Saotom," she said, rolling over and staring up at the sky. Then something hit her. She brought neither a blanket nor a pillow. Her face softened into a slight smile. "That damn Saotome," she said to herself again, this time in a slightly friendlier tone of voice. She got up and gathered the blanket and pillow to return to Finn. However, as she left the observation deck, a voice called out to her.

          "Have a nice sleep?" he asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His cheek was a little swollen, a bruise forming. Ryoko returned to her usual, aggressive attitude. 

          "Fine," She said and shoved her bundle into his chest. "I believe these are yours," she then walked away, but no without letting herself smile. "Thanks," she called back. 

          "Anytime," Fine replied, more to himself than Ryoko. He took out his notebook. "That was educational," he said, scribbling some notes down.

First light 

          Later that day, while Finn was wandering around the ship, he saw the Captain and Akito rush out of the meditation room. 'This looks educational,' he thought, and followed behind them up to the bridge.

          "Just what is going on here?" Yurika asked.

          "What I don't understand is why you would tell us about the free funerals but you wouldn't tell us about this. Its deceptive and unethical!" Seiya seemed to be the ringleader of this circus. 

          "But doesn't it say in the contract that…"

          "Oh give me a break! Who in this day in age takes time to read the entire contract!." Seiya was yelling, and looking as though he was about to have a coronary. 

          "Well, it is rather small type," Yurika said, trying to make out the tiny words printed on the piece of paper.

          "Read the smallest one, at the very bottom," Ryoko said simply. 

          " 'While Nergal will not permit fraternization between fellow employees," Yurika read. "in order to maintain public morality. Any physical intimacy beyond holding hands will be prohibited.' What is this?"

          "That's why we're upset," Ryoko stated simply.

          "Hey, let me see that," Finn stepped forward and took the contract from the Captain's hands. " 'any physical intimacy beyond holding hands will be prohibited.' What kind of term is that!? Are you freakin nuts?"

          "I'm afraid we can't allow that sort of behavior. Sexual relationships aren't allowed here. The ship just isn't equipped for it. The Nadesico is not a preschool, and we don't offer daycare either," Mr. Prospector stated coolly. "Remember, you did sign a contract that is legally binding,"

          "Shut up! We're unsigning it," Seiya remarked as half the crew on the bridge aimed their side arms at Mr. Prospector. Finn sweatdropped. 

          "Don't you think you're going a little overboard here?" Finn asked no one in particular. 

          "Quiet you, I'm trying to make a very profound statement here! So sit down and shut up," Seiya said over his shoulder.

          "Yes sir!" Finn said mockingly with a goofy salute and sat down by Ruri.

          "Idiots," they both said in unison. 

          "The young maidens beckon unto me, I see their want in gaze," Seiya began.

          "And other men," Hikaru added in.  
          "Just drop that sugar in my arms and the passion starts to blaze,"

          "If he gets any we'll all be amazed," Hikaru added in again.

          "That we will." Finn said to himself. 'Man, look at the vein in that guy's forehead. Fire in the hole! KABLOOM!' he thought. The corners of Ruri's mouth tilted upwards for a fraction of a second. Just then, the Nadesico was shuddered. 

          "Ruri, are the fields still up?" Yurika demanded.

          "Yes Captain. But we're in trouble. That blast wave wasn't a probe. They're preparing to attack," the little science officer reported. 

          "Listen everyone, I'm well aware of your frustrations with your contracts but now is not the time to be discussing it! Unless we can pull together, unless we can function as a team and win, people are going to get killed. And more killing means more funerals and I will never, never let that happen again! I would rather do weddings!" Yurika ranted. "Launch the Aestivalis," Finn started to run off with the other pilots, but was stopped by the Yutrika. "I'm afraid I can't let you go out there Lt. Saotome. We don't know what the full capabilities of your TFs or whatever they're called yet,"

          "But…" 

"That's an order,"

"That's…gah… fine," the slightly disgruntled pilot said and took a seat by Minato. 'Wow, look at that chest,' he thought to himself. 'My earlier estimation of 34 inches was off, she's a 35 C cup!' 

 The comlinks from the Aestivalis were fed right into the bridge. 

          "I hate this war, and all the senseless death and madness it brings. But still, to live, we must fight! Gaaaaaahh!!!!" they heard Akito's voice. 

          "Hey, Ruri," Finn called quietly in the calm before the storm. "Did you sign a contract?"

          "No, I didn't," she replied.

          "Me neither," the pilot smirked. 

          "Come on Akito!" Yurika cheered as Akito smashed through a grasshopper. "You see Lt. Saotome. We don't know if your ship is capable of…hey, where'd he go?" She looked over just as the doors to the bridge closed. "Stop him!" 

          "Oh I don't think we have anything to worry about, Captain. That young man has obviously been well trained, and I suspect that he will hold his own quite well out there," Mr. Prospector stated confidently. 

          "Oh…" Yurika moaned. "But he'll steal the spotlight away from my darling Akito," Meanwhile in the hangar, Finn suited up and jumped into the MAF frame, brought the engines online, and detached it from the ACF. 

          "Uribakake, lower the distortion field and let me at em!" Finn's robotic helmet face appeared in front of Seiya in a vidwindow.

          "I don't know. There's been no word from the Captain…"

          "Just do it, man!" Finn more ordered than replied.

          "Fine fine. Jeez. There. You're all clear, kid," S

Some controls were hit and the hangar doors opened.

          "Finally. Here we go!" Finn cranked up the thrusters and bulleted out into space. 

"Uribakae. Do not allow Lt. Saotome to launch! That's an order!" Yurika's voice cried out over the comlink.

"Too late Captain, you just missed him," replied a confused Seiya.

"Why don't you want him out there?" 

"He'll…oh never mind," she replied. 

The small dots of light that were exploding grasshoppers turned into giant fireballs as Finn approached. "Locked on," he said to himself as he targeted a grasshopper. The green target turned red, Finn hit the fire mechanism and twin streams of brilliant yellow energy erupted from the two cannons mounted on the side of MAF. Within the wave of energy, small bursts of light could be seen as grasshopper units exploded. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ryoko's voice bellowed as a vid window popped up in front of him.

"Lending a hand," replied Finn from behind his helmet. 

"Agh. Fine, take the left flank. You have three coming in 30 degrees to port," Ryoko said, giving in.

"I see them. Shit, five more behind me," Finn said as he flipped his ship upward and into some complicated evasive maneuvers at breakneck speed.

"Izumi, get flyboy's ass out of the fire," ordered Ryoko.

"No, its ok. I got them," Finn said, giving the attack computer instructions through his IFS. Still at a speed well over mach five, the parts of Finn's ship began to shift and move. The underside of the ship flipped out and the engines became two massive leg units. The cockpit and the front of the ship flipped and came down to form a chest, while the arms folded out of the rear of the ship. Two dark metallic eyes in the head came to life and the robot flipped around, facing its enemies while maintaining heading and speed. Two long, curved blades flipped out under the wrists of the robot, as it made a sudden leap forward. Finn sliced through three of the grasshoppers in a single strike. 

"Wow," Hikaru's face popped up. "That was, like, totally awesome!"

"Lets keep our heads. Or we'll be dead," Izumi's face appeared. 

Finn zipped around, taking out grasshoppers, until a large wave of a gravity blast cannon came from out of nowhere.

"Gah! I hate inertia I hate it!" Akito struggled to maintain control of his Aestivalias as giant Jovian battle cruiser came into view. Bugging out of combat, Ryoko and her squad came in and made an attack run, but were deflected away like mosquitoes off a screen door.

"Damnit, we can't get through that shield," the leader of the trio said. Akito burst through them, but had no luck either. Finn flew over to help. 

          "Akito. Take out your distortion blade! Try hitting it at different angles till you find one that works," he sent a private message into Akito's Aesti. 

          "Huh?" Akito's confused face appeared.

          "Just do it," Finn hissed.

          "But I need a running start! I can't build up speed that fast,"

          "Crimany, I gotta do everything?" Finn floated around behind Akito's aesti and literally kicked his ass, sending him flying towards the Jovian ship/ 

          "Here goes." Akito replied as he cranked up his thrusters and made for the Jovian ship, blade in hand. "GAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

          "Anyone ever tell you to scream too much in battle, man?" Finn's voice was blocked out by Akito's battle cry.

          "Tenkawa, that's crazy!" Ryoko yelled at the pilot/cook.

          "No its not. Its just a matter of picking the right angle," Akito replied, skimming the outer edges of the Jovian distortion field. When he found a kink in the enemy's field, he slashed at it and drove his fist deep into the hull. Flames began spurting out from the ship as it exploded.

          "80% of enemy units vaporized," Ruri informed the bridge crew. "However, a small number of Jovian vessels still pose a danger to the Nadesico,"

          "Send the Aestivalis in to take them out," ordered Yurika.

          "Negative. The Jovian forces are outside of the Nadesico's maximum energy transfer range," the pintsized science officer replied.

          "I'm on it," Finn's voice piped up.

          "That's nuts. You can't take them all on at once!" Ryoko yelled at him. "Wait for the Nadesico to catch up!"

          "They'll have reinforced their lines by then. I'm taking them out now," Finn called back as he flew past them. The MAF made a beeline for the Jovians. Whatever missiles or gravity blasts that came too close were easily deflected off the distortion field.

          "It would appear that Lt. Saotome's frame is too fast for the Jovian combat computers to target him," Ruri explained.

          "That's fine, but how does he intend to take them all out?" Ryoko asked.

          "You're blocking my view you know." Finn said, irritated by all the vidwindows popping up in front of him. "Just relax, enjoy the view." he made a 90 degree turn upwards and was soon right above the Jovian force, just out of range of their cannons.

          "So what are you going to do from there?" Ryoko asked in an 'I told you so' manner.

          "This," The two giant cannons on the robots legs, (the same ones attached to the side in jet mode) detached. "Locking on," He targeted the chulip at the centre of the growing fleet. Around the tips of the two cannons, a large yellow light appeared, and began to grow in size. The body of the MAF sparked as the joints tried to control the massive build up of energy. Inside the cockpit malfunction alerts clouded Finn's view. He turned off all warning systems, with exception to the gage that showed how far he was away from meltdown. 50% the arm joints sparked. 65% the hands began to turn soft under the heat. 70% The entire frame shook heavily, and barely stayed together under the immense strain. "That's it," Finn choked. The frame's fingers pulled the trigger and a massive wave of yellow/blue energy streamed into the Jovian forces. The Chulip vaporized first, and as the beam expanded more and more ships began to melt and were ripped to shreds by the massive explosion of destruction. Soon there was nothing left of the fleet except for a few scraps of metal that had been tough enough to weather the storm without completely vaporizing. Finn fought to maintain control of the massive discharge of energy he had unleashed. Bolts were exploding off the frame, the hands were ready to melt any second. Then, just as quickly as the beam had been unleashed it died. The MAF floated in space motionless. 

          "Lt. Saotome, do you copy?" Megumi's voice said over the comlink. "Repeat. Lt. Saotome, are you there? Captain, I'm getting nothing but static,"

          "Ryoko, retrieve the MAF and bring it aboard the Nadesico," Yurika ordered.

          "Roger that, Captain," Ryoko was already on her way. "Idiot," she said  to herself. When she reached the frame it was so hot that it was nearly glowing. Her aestivalis unit grabbed hold of the MAFF under the arms and towed it back towards the Nadesico. 

          "What the hell happened to my baby!" Seiya cried when he saw Finn's frame being dragged into the hangar. The red aestivalis put the MAF down on its back. "Captain, what happened to this thing?"

          "We don't know. Get the pilot out of there, now!" Yurika ordered and the maintenance crew began working on the cockpit. Drill bits broke and laser cutters didn't even scratch the surface of the mammoth robot. 

          "Its no good captain. It must have been fused shut from all the heat. What the hell is this thing made of anyway?!" Seiya said. 

          "Megumi try contacting inside the MAF again," Yurika ordered.

          "Roger. Lt. Saotome, please come in. If you are hearing this transmission please respond. Lt. Saotome!" Megumi cried.

          "Damnit Saotome, get out of that thing now!" Ryoko screamed at him, kicking the MAF. Silent minutes passed in what seemed like hours. 

          "Well…since you ask so nicely," came a staticy voice. The cockpit opened and a shaken Finn Saotome climbed out, steam rising from his metal body. "Whoa…I feel…" he fell onto his face dazed.

          Meanwhile on the bridge, the crew were preparing for atmospheric entry.

          "What are those things?" Megumi asked, looking at the sparkling clouds.

          "Those are nanomachine collectives," Hori stated simply.

          "Nano?" Megumi asked confused.

          "Machines. Small, self-replicating robots. The Martian colonists seeded the clouds with nanomachines to give the planet an atmosphere similar to Earth's," explained Ruri.. 

          "How about some gravity control here!!!" Akito shouted at no one in particular. The three female pilots hanging onto him as he clung to his aesti, gravity trying to pull him down to the hangar floor that lay far below.

          "I don't get it. Why does he always get all the chicks?" Seiya asked.

          "You tell me!" Finn said as fell past Seiya from his cockpit. He smashed into a pile of tools on the floor. "My pancreas," he groaned. 

The gravity blast cannon fired a shot down towards the planet vaporizing any remaining Jovian attack forces. 

**Truth**

          "Shuttle 1, lifting off," Reported Ryoko as they took off, Hikaru, Izumi, Hori, Prospector, and Finn tagging along. They landed at the Nergal Research Facility half an hour later. "So what was Nergal doing out here?"  
          "Discovering the Nadesico," Prospector replied as they walked through the massive, empty entrance.

          "Huh?" the three aestivalis pilots asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

          "This is where it began, in this place. Would you like to see?" They nodded and followed him towards an elevator.

          "You coming Saotome?" Hikaru called

          "You guys go ahead. I've got some stuff to check out," Finn replied, and walked towards the east wing of the building. The power was still working and the lights overhead flickered on and off. 'That's good.' Finn thought. 'I won't have to use this,' he tossed a flashlight into the air and caught it. The section of the building he was walking through consisted mainly of offices and empty laboratories. Stumbling upon one with a sign on the door saying "Main Database Server Room" Finn smashed the locked door down with a good swift kick and walked inside. Most of the computers were still running. However, there was only one monitor that appeared to be undamaged. Finn hit the on switch, but nothing happened. "Come on you," he gave the monitor a solid whap on the side and it suddenly sprang to life. "I've got work to do,"

          Meanwhile, hundreds of feet underground, Prospector and the others arrived at their destination

          "Well this is it. It's been thirty years since our research teams discovered this. That's how long it took for use to decipher its secrets," he explained. 

          "But I don't understand. Where did this thing come from?" asked Hikaru.

          "Yeah, just who left this thing laying around out here?" Ryoko added.

          "We don't know for sure," Prospector began.

          "But we think they originated here on Mars," Hori finished.

          "So what you're saying is…"

          "That it was some kind of ancient alien species that made this a long time ago and left it here as proof of their existence!" Hikaru piped up.

          "Well actually…" Hori began.

          "And then when the Mars colonists landed here they found the Martians here and there was a great battle and the colonists won. The aliens then fled from Mars. That must be who the Jovian lizards are. They're the decedents…"

          "You can stop now, ya know," Ryoko said, irritated.

          "And that's why they're here. To reclaim Mars and take Earth while they're at it and force us all into slavery in their subterranean spice mines! This'll make a great story for my next comic book!" Hikaru babbled on. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Hikaru rubbed her head where Ryoko had slapped her.

          "For crying out loud, will you just shut up for once?"

          "Oh just once, just this once," Izumi played on her ukulele.

          "Great, now you have _her_ over there at it." Ryoko pulled at her hair. "Will the insanity ever stop!?!?" she screamed. Prospector and Hori sweatdropped. "Look, we got what we came for. Lets grab robo boy and get the heck out of here,"

          "Actually," Prospector said seriously. "We haven't got what we came for yet. There's still data in this building's computers that Nergal wants,"

          "Just what kind of data?" asked Hori, seeming surprised by Prospector's comment.

          "Data, beam me up," Izumi snorted.

          "Um…yes. Well, the head branch wouldn't tell me what it is. But we have to recover it, that's section 232 paragraph 4 subsection B of your contracts," Prospector said, wandering over to a computer terminal. "Now lets see," he began to type, but stopped after a few seconds. "This is impossible!"

          "What is?" they all asked in unison.

          "The computer, its been wiped clean. There's nothing left. Oh this is very bad news. If the enemy were to get hold of that information, who knows what might happen?!" he looked like a deer staring at the headlights of an oncoming truck.

          "What's bad news?" came a voice out of the darkness surrounding the ancient phase transition engine. Ryoko drew her gun.

          "Oh, its only you. You gave me quite a start. Its nothing you should be concerned about, but the head office will certainly want some answers," Prospect began going any little mistake he had made over the course of this career, worrying about demotions and layoffs. "Oh I'll be reduced to coffee boy for this," he whined.

          "Don't worry," Finn said cheerfully.

          "You mean you know what we're looking for and where to find it?" Prospector looked hopeful.

          "No. Nergal already has plenty of coffee boys. But I did hear that there's an opening for scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush," Prospector paled. Ryoko chucked a piece of debris at Finn's head…and connected. Solidly.

          "You're not helping you know!" she fumed.

          "Ryoko, go too your happy place." Hikaru said.

          "My happy place is here. This is my happy place. But if it is, why am I so unhappy?" Izumi started laughing. Multiple sweatdrops followed. Finn got up, a mini bandage over part of his skull. 

          "So what you're saying is 'go away, we don't want to be saved', is that it?" the Admiral asked, sounding somewhat irritated. 

          "That's exactly what we're saying," a blonde haired woman replied.

          "Please reconsider ma'am. The Nadesico has beaten the lizards in every single exchange of hostilities thus far. You'll be quite safe," Hori said, after having just walked into the room with the others.

          "Hey, what's going on?" Finn asked, but on seeing everyone glare in his direction he decided it best to sit down and shut up. The debate continued to heat up. That is until…

          "Captain, enemy forces incoming. 12 battle ships, 30 smaller warships. The enemy continues to reinforce its lines from a chulip approximately 36 kilometres to port." Ruri informed them.

          "Arm the gravity blast cannon," Yurika ordered.

          "Gravity blast energy charging," Ruri said.

          "Fire!" a massive blast of energy exploded from the Nadesico's cannon. "Huh?!" They all gasped as they saw that not one of the Jovian vessels had even been scratched.

          "Their shields can't be invulnerable, go to continuous fire," Hori said in his usual way.

          "Right, rearm the gravity blast cannon," Yurika ordered. 

          "We can't. We can't divert enough energy from the PT engines to maintain continuous fire," Minato reported.

          "Raise the distortion field then!" 

          "You can't!" the blonde haired woman started.

          "Captain, if you raise the distortion field all of the survivors down there will be crushed to death. Akito and I told them we were here to save them. How can you betray them like this? They're all going to die!" Megumi pleaded. 

          "Minato, take us up and raise the fields,"

          "We can't. It will be twenty minutes before we can divert enough power for sufficient thrust," replied Minato. Yurika looked at Akito, who stared straight back at her. She searched his eyes for an answer, any answer that would get them out of there. But there was no answer to be had.

          "I think this decision maybe too much for the Captain to handle," Prospector sounded worried.

          "Saotome. Use you're energy cannons against them like you did before," Yurika desperately pleaded, searching for some way out.

          "Um…well…" Finn scratched the back of his head. "You see, the thing about is that I kind of overloaded them last time. So they can't be fired again until the system cools down a little. I'd probably explode if I tried it right now,"

 An eerie silence engulfed the bridge of the mighty Nadesico.

          "Ruri. Raise the distortion field," Yurika ordered, practically choking on her own words. 

          "Aye Captain," Ruri said grimly. The air around the Nadesico shimmered as the distortion field was raised. The ground beneath the ship collapsed and gravity blasts from the Jovian ships rained down on the ship.

          "Maintain field integrity," Yurika choked again.

          "Captain, distortion field weakening under enemy fire. Collapse is imminent," Ruri said. All eyes were on the Captain.

          "Launch all Aestivalis units, lay down a retreat pattern to cover the Nadesico," she looked at Akito, and he looked back, then nodded slightly and ran off the bridge with the rest of the pilots to the hangar.

          "Tenkawa, you're in an artillery frame, Hikaru, Izumi, you're in air frames," Ryoko shouted as she jumped into her Aesti's heavy artillery frame. "What are you standing around for?" she demanded when she saw Finn standing on the catwalk. 

"Awaiting orders, ma'am," he gave one of his goofy and mocking salutes.

"Just do whatever and stay out of our way,"

Finn ran to his ACF unit and the Nadesico shuddered violently, causing him to fall and skid across the floor. 'No time to suit up. I'll have to risk it,' he thought as he started the mammoth machine. 

          "Aestivalis launching now!" Ryoko declared as they were catapulted out of the hangar. Akito and Ryoko, in heavy artillery frames, took their places on the ground, firing at enemy craft while slowly retreated backwards with the Nadesico. Hikaru and Izumi floated overhead, machine guns blazing. Finn appeared a minute later in the ACF frame. He flew straight up, past the Jovian ships and circled. The ACF then made a dive right for the ground. Finn activated the gattling cannon and set targets on three Jovian heavy battle cruisers. As soon as the target on his headsup display turned red he pulled the trigger, unleashing a furious spray of melting hot plasma bolts. The first few bolts bounced harmlessly off the enemy's distortion fields, but the they began to fail on the onslaught. Finn kept firing until the ship crashed to the ground in a brilliant fireball. He then took the opportunity to observe the situation his comrades were in. Ryoko was holding her own, Hikaru and Akito both looked like they were in a little trouble. Izumi was on a killing spree.

          "Hikaru, one on your left. Tenkawa, three above you." Finn shouted over the comlink. However, during this moment where he left himself vulnerable, two Jovian cruisers capitalized on his mistake. They fired their gravity blast cannons, and scored two direct hits. The first one was absorbed by the ACF's distortion field. However, the second blast went clean through and blasted apart a piece of the wing. "Oh shit," Finn hit some controls and switched from manual control to his IFS. The wings folded back and two great legs emerged from the undercarriage. The exhaust vents on the flying wing turned into two arms, and a head appeared on top and the giant gattling cannon sat on the right shoulder of the metallic mammoth. "Eat this!" he cried as he unleashed a sea of bolts from his cannon as he made a slow decent down to the surface. He fired continuously until he landed almost right on top of Akito.

          "Hey, watch it!"

          "Sorry, but look what I'm dealing with!" Finn called back and motioned above them. The Jovians were gaining ground.

"All right everyone listen up. Akito and I are going to make a run on the chulip and stop them from reinforcing their lines. Hikaru and Izumi, you neutralize all units that move to intercept us. Finn!" she looked over at Finn, sending thousands of brilliant blue bolts of plasma at the surrounding Jovians and sweatdropped. "Just keep doing what you're doing. Lets do it!"          Akito and Ryoko made a beeline right for the chulip, with Hikaru and Izumi overhead taking out anything that looked like it was making a move against them. 'Just a little further,' Ryoko thought. A loud explosion beside her threw her off balance, and her frame fell to one side. 

          "Ryoko!" Akito called out and started to turn around.

          "Just keep moving, I'll be fine. Take out that damn chulip!" Ryoko screamed at him. Another explosion rocked the heavy artillery frame as Jovian spider units advanced on her. She tried to get up but the fall had damaged her left leg unit. She was stuck. The spiders formed a semi circle around her. 'Oh crap,' she thought, trying to bring around the main gun, but it was jammed under her legs. 'This is it and nothing I can do about it,' she closed her eyes and waited, but heard nothing, except for the sounds of the battle around her. 

          "What the hell are you doing?" Finn called. His ACF was only a fifty metres or so away. "Can you move?"

          "My leg unit's busted up. I'm stuck," she called back sounding somewhat surprised by Finn's sudden tactical advancement.

He fired a few more rounds and ran toward her. Then he transformed the ACF into a flying wing again. However, it did not stop there. Two giant tank treads emerged from the leg units, which were folded against the underside of the ship. The wings folded back and the gattling cannon came to rest under the front of the machine. 

          "Get in," he said as two blinking lights appeared at the rear. "Its meant for the MAF but I think you can fit," 

The compartment was small, defiantly designed for a sleek jet fighter. However, it was just large enough for the heavy artillery frame to squeeze in. "You cover the rear, your guns still work, right?"

          "They work. Tenkawa, got the chulip yet?" Ryoko asked.

          "Almost there! 3…2…1… firing all weapons! Come on. GAHHH!!!!!" Aktio screamed over the open comchannel. 

"Man, that's annoying. Does he always do that?" Finn asked quietly.

After a few seconds of punishment from Akito's artillery frame, the chulip blew apart, sending pieces of itself in every direction. "Alright!"

          "No time to celebrate, Tenkawa. Come on everyone, double back to the Nadesico!" Ryoko ordered.

          "Roger!" all the other pilots replied. Finn drove his tank/jet monstrosity back towards the Nadesico while Ryoko covered him from the MAF's compartment. 

          "All Aestevalis pilots. That's enough. Return to the Nadesico," Megumi's vid window popped up in everyone's cockpit. Ahead of Finn there was a small land force.

"Aren't you going to take them out?" Ryoko asked, banging on the hatch in some kind of hope of getting Finn's attention.

He pushed the throttle up and simply rolled over them, leaving a pile of shredded metal in his wake. "Tonight for one night only! Saotome presents full metal destruction! MUAHAHAHAHA!"

"Don't overdo it," 

The Nadesico had taken a stationary position away from the battle, and was launching a missile attack against any Jovian cruisers that came too close. Finn wheeled into the Hangar and skidded to a stop. Akito followed with Izumi and Hikaru on his tail. The Nadesico raised its distortion field again and pulled out. The Jovians did not follow suit. There pray was in their jaws. They just needed the teeth necessary to shred it.

          "Whew, close one. Thanks Saotome," Ryoko heaved a sigh of relief as she got out of her Aestivalis. 

          "Yeah, not bad Lieutenant," Hikari piped up.

          "You knocked us dead," Izumi said in a creepy voice. Akito had a sense of deja-vu. 

Finn slowly climbed down the ladder from his robot. "Thanks guys," he said weekly. However, before he made it a few steps he fell to the floor steam rising from his body. 

"Saotome?" Akito nudged him, taking Finn's reaction as another one of his jokes, but there was no movement.

Ryoko and the other pilots moved over to where Finn lay. Ryoko knelt down beside him and looked at the smoking body. She tried to roll him over onto his back but his skin was searing hot. She held his arm for a fraction of a second before she let go. "Get a med team down here! NOW!" she ordered. After a few minutes a medical team followed by Inez. A few members of the team were able to bare the heat that seared anything it touched and managed to roll him onto a stretcher. They rushed him out of the room and away from the other pilots. "Idiot," Ryoko said to herself. 

Out of the Frying Pan 

          Yurika washed her face in the cool waters that flowed from the tap of the washroom. The sudden cold sensation against her face felt good, but offered little comfort. Akito approached her from behind.

          "Why did we come here, Akito. Why did we bother? We didn't save anyone. I failed," she stared at the water as it splashed down from the faucet into the sink and whirled down the drain.

          "Yurika," Akito whispered and took her hand.

          "This is the first time you've been nice to me since you came aboard this ship," Yurika said, cherishing the feeling of his hand against hers.

          "Stop it. Pull yourself together."

          "Akito." Yurika whispered. "Please, kiss me?"

          "Yurika, I gah…don't think this is the time," Akito stammered.

          "I don't mean the way you kissed Megumi." Yurika pleaded. "I just want something that means there's still hope," she looked into his eyes. In Akito's eyes, a chibi Finn appeared on Yurika's right shoulder. 

          "Kiss her, man! What are you waiting for? Do it! She's one hot mama!" the chibi Finn cheered and waved a banner saying 'Kiss Her!' Then, a chibi Megumi appeared on Yurika's left shoulder. 

          "Don't do it Akito. Don't listen to them. How can you betray me like this?" she got all watery eyed and started to cry. The chibi Finn continued to wave his banner, until chibi Megumi grabbed it from him and started to beat him about the head with it. There was a brawl within a mini dust cloud. Chibi Megumi stood on top of Finn's body, making a V with her fingers. Chibi Finn was all swerly eyed and covered in bandages. 

          Ryoko paced outside sickbay, while Hikaru and Izumi sat on a bench opposite the doors.

          "You think he'll be ok?" Hikaru asked no one in particular. Ryoko continued to pace. It seemed like hours since they had wheeled Finn past those heavy doors. Just then, the door opened slowly and the blonde haired woman came out. 

          "What the hell? Who are you?" Ryoko demanded.

"I'm Inez Fressenge," the woman introduced herself. "Captain Misumaru has granted me authority over medical issues,"

"Well, how is he?"

          "Not good I'm afraid," Inez explained. "His body temperature has risen to over 84 degrees Celsius, which is approximately 48 degrees above normal. From what I understand, it would appear that the metal suit he wears while piloting the TFs regulates to amount of energy transferred from the ship to his body. However, because he was not wearing the suit while he piloted this time, the energy surged into him at an unregulated rate. The only way for his body to deal with so much energy is to turn it into heat. However, the temperature rose so quickly that his blood is literally on the point of boiling."

          "Is he going to be ok?" Ryoko asked, a worried tone in her voice.

          "Oooooo," Hikaru and Izumi nudged her.

          "That is difficult to say," Inez began.

          "What's the problem? Can't you just throw some ice on him to cool him off?" Ryoko said.

          "The problem is that if we cool him down too fast his body may not be able to handle the stress. This heart would probably not be able handle the rapid heating and cooling of his blood and would simply give out. The best way for us to help him is to leave him to cool down naturally. We have lowered the temperature in the room to help speed up the process. However, it will primarily up to Lt. Saotome whether he lives or dies,"  

          "He's all fired up," Izumi snorted. "He's got the hots for you,"

          "Now, if you will excuse me I have other matters to attend to," Inez excused herself.

Once she and the other two pilots left, Ryoko looked around. Making sure no one was around she slipped into the room. Finn was laying on an examination table, waves of heat radiating off his body. He looked almost asleep. However, if he was dreaming he was having a nightmare, for his face was twisted in pain. From time to time he would twitch or cry out, but for the most part he remained motionless.

          "What did you go and do that for?" Ryoko whispered to herself more than to Finn. She took his hand and held it for as long as she could before the heat became overwhelming. "Idiot,"

          Ryoko's comlink woke her. 

          "All pilots, please report to the bridge for briefing immediately," Megumi's voice piped up over the comlink. 

          "What?" Ryoko sat up in the seat she had taken in the corner of the medical facility. She determined that she must have fallen asleep there for some reason. Finn was still on the examination table, however his face was no longer contorted due to pain. Ryoko smiled to herself and left for the bridge.

          "Ok, so just what is this all about, Captain?" she asked as she walked onto the bridge. She had returned to her 'battle hardened' attitude. 

          "This is our destination," Prospector said. "A research station at Mars North Pole. With any luck we should be able to obtain a spare phase transition engine there,"

          "Excuse me Captain, but we're receiving a 'friend or foe' recognition signal. It matches our records. It's the Crocus," Megumi informed them.

          "Is it now? Hmm," the Admiral appeared to be thinking about something.

          "But how did it get here? The Crocus was sucked into a chulip months ago, and we destroyed the chulip that swallowed the Crocus and the Pansy. It just doesn't make sense," Yurika said to herself.

          "Of course it does. A chulip isn't so much a ship as it is a gate, I think that the fact that the Crocus is here on Mars is proof enough of that," Inez explained. 

          "Are you saying that all the ship attacking the Earth are coming from here on Mars?" Hori asked.

          "Well, no. Not just here on Mars. There's no sign of the other ship, the…" Minato struggled, trying to remember the Crocus's sister ship.

          "The Pansy," The Admiral filled in for her.

          "Yes, that's right. There's no sign of the Pansy." Minato finished.

          "Which means that one end of a chulip may go to many different locations," Inez concluded. 

          "Prepare a landing party. We should go over and check for survivors," ordered Yurika.

          "I'm sorry, but we don't have time for that now Captain. We have to continue onward," Prospector said.

          "I think we should follow Nergal's guidelines for now, dear," the Admiral added.

          "Just hold on one second here," Akito walked onto the bridge. "I have some questions for you, Admiral," his voice full of rage.

          "You're late Tenkawa. I trust you have a good excuse," Hori began, but Akito waved it off. 

          "Is it true that you lead the UEAF Assault Force at the First Battle of Mars?" Akito's eyes pieced even the Admiral's usual determined face. 

          "What are you talking about, Akito? Everyone knows that the Admiral was in charge during the battle," Yurika explained. "You did know that, didn't you?"

          "You're wrong, I didn't know. I didn't know that our leader was the 'hero' who caused the chulip to fall on to the Utopia Colony," in Akito's mind images flashed as real as the images displayed on the screen. Ai. Utopia Colony. Chulip. Grasshoppers. Ai. Death. "You did it!" Akito screamed. "You're the one to killed them all! Damn you!" he viciously attacked the Admiral like a man possessed. 

          "Here we go," Ryoko sweatdropped and walked over to where Akito was attacking the Admiral. She grabbed him by the collar and delivered a solid punch to his face. Hori quickly grabbed the stunned Akito and held him down while Hikaru taped him to a chair.

          "Mellow out and think happy thoughts!" Hikaru said, blowing her whistle. 

          "Kill me now," Ryoko shook her head.

          "Man, I can't believe how slow this land frame is," Ryoko complained.

          "Well, you were the one who wanted to pilot the heavy weapons frame," Izumi replied. 

          "Oh shut up. You make me sick," Ryoko shot back. "Saotome," she sighed sadly. 'No one deserved to go through the kind of pain he endured. Its partially my fault too'. she thought. 'If I hadn't busted the leg unit up he would never have had to do that. Gah! While do I get all fuzzy when I think about that guy?!' "Damnit!" she bashed her head against he aesti controls.

          "What was that Ryoko?" Hikaru's face popped up. Ryoko turned red.

          "It was nothing. Shut up and keep your eyes on the terrain. Just where is this research facility anyway?"

          "Well, I've been cross referencing it on all the maps, but I haven't…" Hikaru was cut off.

          "Wait a second. This isn't right!" Izumi said.

          "You mean its to the left? You sounded so serious that…ahh!" Hikaru screamed as he Aestivalis plunged under the snow and ice. 

          "Hikaru!" Ryoko called, seeing her fellow pilot disappear into the ice.

          "Ryoko, its coming your way!" Izumi called. The robot bug swam through the solid ice below their feet as though it were water. It burst out of the ice and clamped onto Ryoko's aestevalis. A small hatch opened and a drill began to sink its way into her frame.

          "That thing's got a drill. No way…no freakin way!" Ryoko screamed. Sparks were sent flying in every direction as the bug bored further into her frame. "Izumi! Hikaru! Tenkawa! Saotome! Help, please!" she cried. The bug had both the frame's arms pinned against its side. Ryoko couldn't fire any missiles because that would involve blowing herself up in the process.  Izumi stumbled and slipped over to Ryoko and forcefully shoved her shoulder unit into the bug, forcing it off Ryoko's frame. "I got it!" Ryoko said as she locked onto the bug. There was a brilliant flash of light as she fired a shot directly into the bug's underside. It landed on the ground, limbs twitching and sparks flying for a few seconds before it simply exploded. "Whew. Thanks guys,"

          "So who's names did I just hear you call?" Izumi's ever strange face appeared in Ryoko's cockpit.

          "Yes yes. I heard it to Izumi," Hikaru added.

          "What? You guys just misunderstand. I just forgot that he wasn't here and…" Ryoko tried to defend herself.

          "Tenkawa!" Izumi and Hikaru chimed together. "Saotome!" Ryoko's head fell to one side, her face very red.

          "Grr. All right, name your price you…you blackmailers!" she sounded very pissed off.

          "Banana pudding for a month!" Hikaru demanded.

          "And there's this cute little tea set I've been admiring." Izumi added.

          "Hey Hikaru. Where in the heck are you anyway?" Ryoko asked, changing the subject. 

          "Down here!" Hikaru fired a shot up through the hole.

          "Hey, watch it," Ryoko said as she came closer to the hole. "Can you climb out?" Hikaru clawed at the ice walls of the hole, which turned out to be a system of tunnels made by the bug, but just kept slipping down. "Try jumping," she suggested.

Hikaru looked up at the sky above her, hit her jets to maximum and tried to leap out of the tunnel. She made it about ten meters off the ground. "Huh? What happened?"

          "She's got cold feet," Izumi laughed in her usual, insane manner while Ryoko tried to think of another way out.

          "It must be the cold." Ryoko said. The external temperature read –65 degrees Celsius. "Its probably too cold for your jets to ignite. Send a fist up here, maybe we can pull you out." 

          "Roger!" Hikaru said, sounding as cheerful as she would have getting a new Gekigengar manga. She fired a fist attached to a cable up to Ryoko, who caught it. 

          "Izumi, help me pull her out," Ryoko ordered, and the two Aestevalis began to heave their yellow comrade up. About halfway up, there was a sudden cracking noise. The ice below Ryoko and Izumi's feet gave way and they all came crashing down into the tunnel. "Well isn't that just prime,"

"Captain," Megumi alerted. "I've lost contact with the aestevalis units,"

          "Sensors indicated shots were fired," Ruri told them.

          "Akito, go out and…" Yurika looked over at Akito, he was still struggling against the ropes around him and the gag in his mouth.

          "Mmgph! Ammmmff!" He 'said'. 

          "Oh, right. I forgot about that," Yurika sweatdropped. The Nadesico slowly pressed onward towards their polar destination.

          "Aw shit! What are we going to do now?" Ryoko asked.

          "We could send up a signal flare!" Hikaru suggested.

          "No, that would let every Jovian for a hundred km know where we are. Its like of like holding up a sign saying 'Welcome Jovians, enter here". Ryoko replied. The aestivalis sat in a circle, while their pilots thought of a way out. 

          "Why not contact the Nadesico and ask them to drop us a line?" Izumi suggested, pointing out the most obvious solution to their predicament.

          "Its worth a shot." Ryoko replied. "Nadesico, come in Nadesico. Pilot Subaru to Nadesico. Nadesico, do you read?" all she got was static. "Its no good. The ice must be blocking our signal. Well, since we can't climb out, maybe we can find another way outta here,"

          "What do you mean?" asked Hikaru.

          "I mean, lets get our asses in gear and get going!" Ryoko replied.

          "You mean, in there?" Hikaru motioned to the long, dark tunnel. 

          "Duh. Lets go," Ryoko said, turning on her searchlight. Fortunately for them the gravitron beam that fed their Aestevalises energy was able to penetrate the ice, even though their radios didn't. 

          "Out of the frying pan and into the fire," Izumi said to herself as she and Hikaru followed Ryoko. The tunnel, they learned, was not just a simple tunnel running from one end to the other. As it turns out, it was a complex network of passageways. Some went deep under the ice, whereas others went straight to the surface. Unfortunately for the trio every potential exit was at too steep an angle for them to climb out. 

          "Just how far do you think these tunnels go for anyway?" asked Hikaru.

          "How should I know?" Ryoko replied. They continued onward, delving deeper and deeper into the labyrinth. After wandering around for about fifteen minutes, Hikaru spotted a light up ahead.

          "Look, I think I see a way out." Hikaru cheered and ran for the light. However, as they got closer she began to doubt her words. The closer they got, sounds of machinery became more distinct. They came to a large hole that led down into a massive cavern. Upon taking a quick look over the edge, what they saw made them shiver. Bugs, lots of bugs, were down there. It was obviously some kind of manufacturing plant the Jovians had built. The walls, floors, and ceilings of the cavern were literally crawling with bugs. "What are we going to do now? There's no way we can fight that many of them. We had enough trouble with one, just imagine a couple hundred of them coming down our throats," 

They pulled back so that they would not be seen.

          "I have an idea," Ryoko said. "I could throw a couple of grenades down there and probably destroy a good section of the plant. Then from up here we could take up covered positions and probably hold out for quite a while,"

          "But what happens after 'quite a while'?" Hikaru asked.

          "I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet," Ryoko admitted. However, their decision was about to be made for them. A bug had dug its way below them, causing the ice between tunnels to weaken. The three aestivalis units crashed down. Every bug fixed their visual receptors on that tunnel and began to scurry towards it. "Awww shit!" Ryoko cried. "Fall back, mole formation," she ordered. Izumi stood to Ryoko's left, Hikaru to her right. They reversed the treads on their robot feet and started to pull out. Tens, if not hundreds, of bugs poured into the tunnel. Ryoko and her team returned fire, laying waste to any that got too close. However, they were in a precarious situation. There were hundreds of bugs and only three of them, and ammunition was starting to run low. A vidwindow popped up in Ryoko's cockpit. 'Warning, ammunition low." 

          "I know!" she screamed at the computer. They continued their retreat. However, there was a flaw in this plan. They did not know where they were going. Fortunately the tunnel was more or less straight. "I have an idea!" Ryoko called out. She aimed her heavy machinegun at the roof of the tunnel, just above the perusing bugs and unleashed a torrent of bullets, causing a cave in. "Yeah!" Ryoko cried triumphantly as their foes were crushed and buried under giant slabs of rock hard ice. "Hah! Take that!" she congratulated herself and kicked a deactivated bug's head off, sending it skidding down the tunnel. Above them, the ice cracked and shifted. Small pieces rained down on them. "Oh man, this really bites. Come on girls, lets get out of here!" 

They wheeled their Aestevalis units around and peeled away from the collapsing ice as fast as their robotic feet would take them. However, the cave-in was catching up.

          "Death's icy grip." Izumi remarked.

          "Oh shut up. We don't need that crap right now, Izumi!" Ryoko shouted. "Just keep moving,"

 To add to their troubles, the bugs began to dig themselves out, and were following the path of collapsed ice.

          "Captain. I am picking up seismic activity 226km, 30 degrees off starboard," Ruri informed them.

          "Could it be the Aestevalis team?" Yurika asked.

          "Possibly. Readouts show a large wave of seismic activity approaching at high velocity. However, the activity is too deep underground to precisely determine the exact cause,"  

          "I'm out of ammo!" Hikaru called.

          "Me too. Just keep moving!" Ryoko ordered. 

          "Captain, I'm picking up faint recognition signals from aestevalis type units," Ruri said. "They are being pursued by multiple subterranean Jovian units,"

          "Ready the gravity blast cannon, Ruri," Yurika ordered.

          "Negative. Firing off a gravity blast wave into the ice would cause the cave system the aestevalis units are in to collapse,"

          "Oh shit!" Ryoko cried as she skidded to a stop. The tunnel angled straight up. The wave of collapsed ice thundered towards them. 

          "Ruri, configure the gravity blast cannon to a wide spread, low power shot. Just enough melt that ice," Yurika ordered.

          "But Captain, if we fire the gravity blast cannon now, its possible all our power reserves will be drained. If that's the case, we will be defenceless if the Jovians turn their attention towards the Nadesico," Prospector said worriedly.

          "I'm well aware of that, Mr. Prospector, but we have no other options, unless you want three out of five or our pilots to die. Do it, Ruri,"  Yurika ordered. 

          "Aye Captain," Ruri replied. She talked with the computer and gave it the proper commands.  "Gravity blast is charging,"

          Ryoko shut her eyes and waited to be consumed by the wave of collapsing ice.

          "Firing gravity blast cannon." Ruri said as the Nadesico unleashed a wave of gravitron energy just strong enough to melt the ice.

          "Huh?" Ryoko opened her eyes. "What the hell happened?"

          "We got iced," Izumi snorted. Ryoko looked around. It looked as they had been transported away from ice, for it just seemed to melt all around them. 

          "All aestevalis pilots, return to the Nadesico immediately," Megumi's voice said over the comlink. 

          "Glad to see a familiar face!" Hikaru chirped as they made a break for the Nadesico, bug units nipping at their heals.

          "Ruri, configure gravity blast cannon to full power, fire as soon as Ryoko and the others are inside," Yurika ordered. 

Just as Ryoko entered the hangar, a bug latched onto Hikaru's Aestevalis. Ryoko turned back.

          "Ryoko, get inside the ship. Now!" Megumi relayed orders to Ryoko.

          "I can't just leave Hikaru out there!" Ryoko shouted back and wheeled her Aestevalis around. 

          "We can't raise the distortion field with you two outside the ship. Wait until the other Jovain units have been destroyed, then you can help her." Megumi said. 'No way.' Ryoko thought. 'No way I'm leaving one of my shipmates out there to get killed,'

          "It'll be too late by then!" Ryoko shouted. She reached Hikaru and saw the drill ripping its way through her Aestevalis's armour. "Oh no you don't bug boy," she yelled as she grabbed the bug by the head and crushed its metal skull in. By this time the Nadesico was lifting off the ground. 

          "Run!" Izumi shouted, standing in her aestevalis by the hangar door. She had her robot's hand outstretched. Ryoko and Hikaru moved as fast as their robots would take them, but arrived just as the Nadesico's hangar was out of reach. "Jump!" Ryoko leaped and used whatever power her jet boosters could give her. She launched herself forward, but fell short of the hangar door. However, there was a jolt as Izumi's aestevalis grabbed Ryoko's aesti's hand. 

          "Hikaru, jump!" Ryoko ordered. 'Please, please let them work this time!' Hikaru tired to launch herself off the ground, but her jets didn't fire. She tried again, and again, but they just would not cooperate.

          "Come on, one last try," Hikaru said to herself. Her boosters fired and she was caught by Ryoko's outstretched aestivalis hand. "Whew. Thanks Ryoko,"

          "If you don't mind." Izumi grunted. "My servos are going to blow at any second," Izumi managed to lift them high enough for Ryoko to grab a hold on the hangar doors. She hauled herself up and pulled Hikaru up with her. 

          "Our reports show that there are five chulips surrounding the perimeter of the lab," Hori said.

          "This doesn't look good," Yurika replied.

          "Maybe so, but it is the sworn duty of all Nergal employees to retake that facility at any cost. That's section twenty two, paragraph four, subcolumn E of your contracts," Prospector informed them.

          "Why don't you order us into an obvious trap?" Ryoko said. "And just want is so important about this lab anyway?"

          "I can't divulge that information. All I can tell you is that we have to retake that facility. Remember, you did sign a contract, which is legally binding." Prospector dodged the question.

          "Don't remind me," Ryoko said.

          "I really would like to avoid subjecting the lives of the crew to danger recklessly," Yurika said.

          "We'll use the other ship," the Admiral said, saying something for the first time in the conversation.

          "What ship?" there was a collective question there.

          "The Crocus," the Admiral replied simply. 

          Down in the hangar, Hori was busy arguing with the Admiral.

          "Please sir, its far too dangerous. Let me go instead," he pleaded.

          "No, I'm afraid you don't have the proper training Mr. Hori. Besides all we're doing now is making a survey." the Admiral replied. 

          "If that's the case, why are you making me come along?" Akito said. He still hadn't completely cooled off from his earlier discovery about the Admiral's past, but he restrained himself from ripping the man's head off and crushing his skull.

          "Consider it your punishment," was all the Admiral said, and within minutes the Aestevalis launched, carrying Inez and the Admiral towards the damaged Crocus.

          "The Crocus appears to be lifting off, Captain," Ruri reported.

          "That Admiral really did it!" Yurika cheered.

          "But what does this accomplish?" asked Hori. "There's no way he can fight in that piece of scrap,"

          "Greetings Captain," The Admiral's face popped up in a vidwindow. "As you can see I've armed by guns and aimed them at the Nadesico's hull,"

          "Huh?" the crew 'asked'. 

          "The Admiral wants us to enter the open chulip ahead of us," Ruri reported.

          "Are you saying that the Admiral wants to destroy the Nadesico?" Megumi asked.

          "It doesn't make any sense," Minato said.

          "Oh yes it does! He's trying to cover up for his mistake. Don't you see? That's why he wants to destroy the Nadesico and all of the evidence!" Akito screamed over the comlink.

          "Akito, if that were true you're the first person he'd kill," Inez said simply.

          "Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!" Akito shouted as he jumped out of his Aestivalis cockpit and began sprinting towards the bridge. "Don't do it Yurika, what in the hell are you thinking about!" he burst onto the bridge a second later. "What the hell are you doing?!" He screamed. "Didn't you hear that all the crew members on the Crocus were dead?" 

          "Minato plot out an entry vector for that chulip, on the double!" Yurika ordered. For the first time, intentionally ignoring Akito.

          "What? Do you realize how much this ship costs?!" Prospector cried.

          "Don't you have any faith in the Admiral you selected?" Yurika shot back. By this time, Akito had had enough. He moved towards Minato, with the intention taking her seat and steering the ship out of the chulip himself. However, before he got there, a warm hand grasped his shoulder. Akito looked back. Behind him was a panting, weak, but determined Finn. 

          "What? What are you doing?" Akito hissed. Finn merely shook his head. No. 

          "But why?" Akito asked.

          "Trust me. Trust them. Trust Yurika," Finn replied in a weak voice.

          "Lt. Saotome? What are you doing on the bridge?" Yurika demanded.

          "I wanted to see this," Finn replied simply and took a seat on the bench behind the Captain's seat.

          "Get him back to sickbay!" Yurika ordered.

          Meanwhile, the Nadesico slipped into the warp gate created by the chulip. The Crocus followed.

          "Captain, the Crocus is now blocking the chulip's entrance," Ruri said, taking the Captain's attention away from Finn, who sat, breathing heavily, watching the view screens. The Jovians began to fire at the Crocus, the Admiral opened another vidwindow to the bridge of the Nadesico. Yurika pleaded with him to save himself. 

          "There's still so much you haven't taught me, so much I need to know!"

          "No, there's really nothing left for me to show you my dear. I believe, love, that this is the best way to protect the ones I care about, and to make amends,"

          "Admiral!" Yurika cried.

          "Gah! Why are you all trying to make this look so honourable?!" Akito shouted.

          "I was not a good admiral, was probably no better a man. Here I am, spending my last moments forcing others to abide by my wishes. But just let me say this. The Nadesico is your ship. All of the anger, the hatred, and the passion. All of what you feel is yours and can never be taken away…" he Admiral's vidwindow turned to static.

          "Turn back!" Hori ordered.

          "I can't its as though some invisible force is pulling us in!" Minato frantically worked the controls, but got no response.

          "The chulip's opening has been destroyed," Ruri reported. 

          "Does anyone know where we're going?" Jun asked. Everyone stared at the subspace world they had been sucked into. 

          Akito sat in the cafeteria with his Gekigengar toy. 

          "Why?" He asked. "Why did we have to be saved by a murderer like him?" Yurika, Megumi, and Ryoko stood outside the doorway, listening.

          "I relied on his wisdom and experience," Yurika said to them. "I don't know if I can do this without him,"

          "Do you really think he came all the way to Mars just to kill himself?" Megumi asked.

          "Doing something stupid to make up for something else you've done its pretty idiotic. At some point you have to accept responsibility," Ryoko replied. They stood there for a while in silence. Finn came around the corner and saw their solemn faces. He leaned against the wall adjacent to the one they were leaning against and stared at the floor. Even though he had only been on the Nadsico for a month or two, he considered Akito be like the little brother he never had. Still somewhat immature, trying to find his footing. 

'Not that I'm much better,' he thought to himself. He looked at Ryoko, a sad expression on her face. "How is he?" he asked quietly. Not so much because he wanted to know how Akito was doing, more just to break the silence that had enveloped the four of them. No one replied. "I see," They continued their silent watch on Akito for a while. Miss Howmei was saying something to Akito. Finn couldn't make out the words, but he could tell it was important. Akito stood up shouting. 

          "Why the hell do I have to owe him anything?"

Finn got up off the wall and place a hand on Ryoko's shoulder.

          "Don't worry about him. He'll be alright," Finn said quietly enough for only Ryoko to hear. Then Finn turned and walked quietly away. 

Welcome Back: 

          The Nadesico silently moved through subspace. Everyone on the mighty battle ship seemed to be enjoying a nice nap. All decks of the ship were quiet, with the exception to the bridge, where Ruri was still awake. She worked out complex equations, trying to calculate exactly where they were going, but it was no use. Nothing was known about subspace transdimensional travel. She sighed and looked at the Gekigengar plushie the Captain had once used as a substitute. 

          "Looks like it's just you and me." she said to the plushie. The view ahead of changed. "Hmm?" 

          "Commander, I'm detecting activity in chulip force one, sir. Its off the scale, something huge is coming through!" a UF officer monitoring scanner screens shouted to his captain. 

          The Nadesico began to accelerate forward. They were catapulted forward towards a large sphere, along the surface of which was some kind of portal. It was large, roughly the size of a chulip's opening. Along the outside it was like looking into another part of space. Ruri could see a battle. Energy blasts flew back and forth between opposing sides like pingpong balls. 

          "Is that what I think it is?" the captain of the UF fleet asked.

          The Nadesico plunged into the sphere.

          "It's the Nadesico!" the crew on the bridge of the UF flagship shouted. 

          "The Nadesico has returned to normal space. Would everyone please get up now? Hello? Get up. Its time to get up," Ruri tried to rouse the drowsy crew. 

          Finn slowly woke from a deep sleep. 'Where am I?' was obviously the first question that came to mind. The last thing he remembered was walking away from the girls at the cafeteria. There was a slight pressure at his side, like he was leaning against something. Finn slowly opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings. 'I'm in my room,' he thought. 'How did I get here?' he brought his arms up his face to rub his eyes, but he felt something else before they got there. It was firm, but yielded slightly to his touch. Finn took a breath and inhaled the sweet scent of something he could not identify. He looked down to see what this mystery object was. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Resting on his chest was a mass of short green hair, belonging to a certain female pilot. 'What the…?' he asked himself, feeling a sense of comfort and a sense of fear at the same time. 'So this is the scent of a woman. How very educating,' Finn thought, taking in the scent. Ryoko stirred. Finn said his prayers. 

          "Mmm," Ryoko moaned. Every mussel in Finn's body tensed. 

          Ryoko was awoken by Ruri's voice. She dreamt she was in the arms of her father, the day he died. But wait, she was in someone's arms. She opened her eyes and looked around. She felt safe, comfortable, and warm. 'I like this,' She thought. She lifted her head off her mystery man's chest and moved her hair out of her eyes. 

          "Saotome?" she whispered. 

          'That's it. I'm dead,' Finn thought. "Yes?" he sounded tired.

          "What are you…," Ryoko came to realize that she was laying in a bed, in Finn's arms. "What the…how did we get there?" she jumped up and stood up. Finn sat up and swung his legs over the side.

          "I don't know," Finn replied quietly. 

          "You perverted little…" Ryoko threw up her defences, however her face was very red.

          "Hey, I don't know how we ended up like that!" Finn said, desperately trying to save his life. 

          "Why should I trust you? Its not like this is the first time you've tried to sneak me away to your room," Ryoko said trying to sound disgusted with him.

          "Excuse me. I hate to break things up, but the enemy is attacking," Ruri's face appeared in front of them. "All pilots launch immediately,"

          "Look, we'll finish this later," Ryoko said and ran towards the door. "Come on!" she called from the hallway. Finn stared at the wall. 

          "That was educational," he said to himself and ran after her.

          "All Aestevalis launching now!" Ryoko reported to the Captain. "All pilots, seek and destroy!"

          "What's our strategy?" Hikaru asked.

          "Improvise!" Ryoko shouted back

          "Once more, into the fray," Finn said to himself, in his suit this time, and he launched in the MAF frame. All around them there were grasshoppers and cruisers firing weapons, most of them in their direction. Finn cranked up his thrust and unfolded the blades under his robot's wrists. He slashed his way through a few grassohoppers and dodged a few missiles. "This is too easy!" he said. Then he game face to face with a Jovian cruiser. "Maybe I spoke too soon," he said, sounding a little worried. A bright yellow light grew in front of him as the cruiser prepared to fire. Finn rocketed up and avoided the blast, and then he charged full speed into the enemy's distortion field. "Come on. Come on," he said, teeth grinding. The blade on the robot's right wrist came slashing down, weakening the field long enough for Finn to push through. He ran the blade along the ship's hull, gutting it like a fish. The ship exploded into a giant fireball, taking a few stray grasshoppers with it. 

          "Ahhh!" everyone heard Akito scream over the comlink.

          "Yo Akito, you ok?" Finn called, slicing through another cruiser.

          "There's something wrong with me," Akito said, sounding very shaken.

          "He's freaking!" Hikaru said.

          "Hold on Akito, I'm…aw shit!" Finn was cut off by a barrage of gravity blast cannons all aimed at him.

          "Akito! Just wait five more seconds!" Ryoko called as she flew as fast as her aestevalis would take her towards him. A dark streak appeared out of nowhere and moved Akito out of the way of a missile spray. 

          "Get back! Its about to get extremely dangerous!" a new voice ordered. "You three return immediately to base!" 

The sky exploded into fire as multiple beams of light flew overhead. Finn bugged out, after slashing a few more grasshoppers and returned to the Nadesico. 'I thought I heard the order to pull back. But from who?' he thought. Akito's rescuer turned out to be a blue aestevalis. Seiya drooled as it came to a stop. Finn ran over to Akito.  

          "You allright young Akito?" Finn asked. Akito was still in his cockpit, breathing heavily. 

          "There's something wr-wrong with me," he stammered. 

          "Come on, let's get you out of there." Finn helped Akito out of his Aestivalis. He saw the newcomer open his cockpit hatch and introduce himself.

          "I'm Negare Akatsuki. From the Space Battleship Cosmos," he said triumphantly. 

          "Akatsuki." Finn said to himself. "I know that name. But from where?"

          "Come on you two. The Captain wants us to report to the bridge for a debriefing," Akatsuki ordered, more than suggested to Finn and the shaken Akito. 

          "So what's up?" Finn asked as they walked onto the bridge. 

          "Yeah, why did you have us pull out like that?" Ryoko asked. Izumi started laughing. "Oh shut up!" Ryoko shouted, seeing what Izumi thought was so funny. 

          "It would appear the passing through a chulip entails more than simple teleportation…" Inez began. Finn's eyes drooped. 

'Must stay…awake.' he thought. 

          "Yes yes, Inez. But I think we have to think about what this entails for this ship," Prospector interrupted Miss Explanation. 

          "What it means is that we will be integrated into the UF's far eastern command," Yurika put it simply.

          "What? You mean we'll have to work for those idiots?" Finn asked. The crew began to argue amongst themselves. Some protested becoming mercenaries, while others disagreed with the decision to abandon Mars.

          "Excuse me. But the enemy is attacking again," Ruri interrupted them. 

          "All pilots, engage the enemy at once!" Yurika shouted over all the bickering and fighting. The pilots ran out the door. Finn stayed behind and narrowed his eyes on Akatsuki as he ran out. After a minute he followed. 

          "Stay in blossom formation. Don't let them lure you out!" Ryoko ordered. "Saotome, you're going solo. Can you handle that?"

          "Roger that, _Commander_ Subaru," Finn replied and went to seek and destroy. The battle pretty much picked up where it left off. Akito was still pretty shaken. His mind was a blur of images. Mars. The Admiral. Crocus. Gai. He did little more than dodge any grasshoppers that came his way. Finn went out in the ACF this time, with the MAF frame attached to the centre of the back, and was on a rampage of destruction. His gattling cannon literally ripping Jovian cruisers apart. The battle seemed to be going in favour of the Nadesico and her crew. However, the Nadesico itself and Cosmos were left vulnerable, having docked with each other in order to repair the battered Nadesico. 

          "Akito! Let go of the grasshopper!" Ryoko shouted. Akito was spinning out of control away from the battle.

          "Pilot Tenkawa has now entered the moon's shadow. Gravitron energy transfer stopped, " Reported Ruri.

          "I'll get him!" Finn called and started to move off in that direction. However, the Jovians were not about to allow Finn to assist his comrade. A screen of grasshopper missiles and gravity blast cannons bombarded him. Finn cried out as his distortion field gave out and the blasts rained down on him. Turning his frame around, he faced the Jovians head on. His cannon firing, he ripped apart any and all Jovian vessels in his sights. "I'm coming buddy!" Finn cranked his thrusters to full. The frame moved at a snail's pace. "Shit! They took out my engines!" Finn slammed his fist down against the arm of his seat. 

          "Lt. Saotome, the Jovian lines are beginning to fall return to the Nadesico for repairs.The UF ships are taking control of the battle," Yurika said.

"Yeah, and all the credit that goes with it," muttered Finn.

"All aestevalis return to the Nadesico." Yurika ordered. Finn slowly flew his damaged frame towards the Nadesico. Seiya looked ready to have a coronary when he saw the status of the ship.

          "What the hell happened?!" Seiya cried. "What did you do? Use yourself as a shield?" Finn jumped down the ladder from the cockpit. 

          "Do you think you can fix her up?" Finn asked, holding his helmet under his arm. 

          "I don't know. We haven't had much time to get know her," Seiya said somewhat doubtful. 

          "You've got all the data you need to fix it. Just give it a shot," Finn pleaded. "I really don't want to have to fix it myself. Believe me, repairing a damaged nuclear reactor by yourself takes a while,"

          "Isn't it dangerous to have something like that aboard?"

          "Nah, as long as it doesn't meltdown, then mild radiation poisoning's all you should get,"

          "Allright kid. Since none of the other units appear damaged, we'll look at yours first," Seiya replied. "Allright men! We're going to fix up the TF frames first! The aestis can wait!" He ordered.

          "Yes sir!" came a collective response.

          "I love this job," Seiya said smiling. Finn sweatdropped. 

          Finn reported to the bridge first for a debriefing. After that he was allowed to do whatever he pleased. His stomach growled.

          "Ok, ok," he said to his stomach. "I get the message," 

Some people looked at Finn somewhat strangely, and he headed towards the cafeteria. 

          After having a Mars Bowl, Finn decided to head to the observation deck. When he walked in, the room was dark, a small sliver of the simulated sun could be seen in the horizon. In the centre of the room, on top of the small hill, Finn saw a figure sitting hugging its knees and its head down. Finn ventured forward to see who this figure was. It was difficult to see, but Finn knew immediately who this was.

          "Ryoko," he said quietly. She lifted her head up slightly.

          "Go away," Ryoko replied, a slight shake in her voice. Finn saw light reflect from a few tears that were running down her cheeks.

          "Ryoko I…" Finn began. He walked closer and sat down beside her. "If this is about earlier when we woke up…I'm sorry," 

          "Its not about that," Ryoko said, her face buried in her arms.

          "Then what is it? Something to do with Tenkawa?" Finn asked boldly after a few silent minutes. 

          "So what if it does," Ryoko replied. She fell silent, and stayed that way for quite a while. After a long time of just staring at the fake sky, Finn placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

          "He'll be back," he said quietly. Ryoko looked at him. He wiped a tear off her face gently with his fingers. "Don't worry," Ryoko smiled a little. 

          "This has never happened to me before," she said, looking at the ground. "I've never worried about anyone except myself. So why am I all of a sudden worried about him?"

          "Something going on between you two?"

          "Its nothing like that." Ryoko began to revert back to her 'I don't care about anyone' attitude. Finn smirked. "What's so funny?"

          "If you say so, Subaru," 

          "I..er…" Ryoko struggled to come up with a witty comeback. "Thanks," was all she said.

          "For what?" Finn asked.

          "For, well…everything I guess. Like how you almost killed yourself by piloting back on Mars. And just now," Ryoko struggled.

          "Just doing my job. But you're welcome," Finn replied. 

          "Hey lover girl, guess who's back," Hikaru's face popped up in a vid window. "Oh," She said, noticing Finn there. "I didn't know you were busy. Jeez, you get over men fast. Or is Saotome going after you on the rebound?" Ryoko blushed.

          "Shut up! Its not like that!" Ryoko defended herself.

          "Whatever you say, Ryoko," Hikaru said, closing the vidwindow.

          "That's the Ryoko I know," Finn laughed as he got up. "I'll see you later," and he left the room. Ryoko just smiled at him as he left.

          "I'm back!" Admiral Ubatake shouted.

          "Yes, Admiral Ubatake has been assigned to the Nadesico as our chief United Forces leas on."

          "Its cool! Really!" the goofy Admiral with a mushroom for a haircut said.

          "And I'm Erina Wan. I've been assigned to the Nadesico as your new co-helms woman," said a scary looking woman.

          "Yes, that's right," Prospector said. "Damnit, what's the chairman's secretary doing here?" 

…To be continued in Act 2

**End of Act 1**


	2. Enter the Pilot: Act 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

-by CdnShockwave

**Act 2**

**Finn's Day Off**

          Finn was sitting on the artificial grass in the observation deck, enjoying the peace and quiet of his day off. Technically he wasn't a crewmember, but no one could seem to think of a good reason to get rid of him. Plus, he was proving himself to be rather useful, even though he had a tendency do disobey orders and nearly killed himself sometimes. But all together things were going pretty well. He sat up and took a deep breath. 

"Ahh, nothing like recycled oxygen!" he mused. The door opened behind him, Finn turned his head slightly at the sound. 

          "Saotome!" Ryoko's voice boomed. Finn wrenched his head backwards at the startling interruption. 

          "Erk!" was all the only sound he made. His head now facing backwards.

          "What are you doing here? Uribatake needs your help in the hangar repairing your T…whatever you call them," Ryoko said.

          "I er…ah…" 

          "Don't just stand there! Move it!" 

"Yes Ma'am," he squeaked and got up, head still screwed on the wrong way and fumbled out the door. 

"Why are you fooling around, pilot," came an icy voice from in front of him when he had gone a little ways from the observation deck.

"I…what?" Finn asked, turning around. "Oh, its you," he said, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Why are you fooling around when there's work to be done? Honestly, someone has to install some order in this crew," Erina said. 

'Man, take that broomstick out of your tailpipe,' Finn was tempted to say. Instead, he shrugged it off. "Its my day off. Give me a break,"

"What was that?" Erina demanded.

"Sorry, today I have a cough," Finn replied, a slight smirk on his face, and continued on his way. When he rounded a corner, after having walked into several walls, he stopped and wrenched his head back to its normal, forward facing, position, and took out his little notebook. 

          "That," Finn said to himself. "was educational," he wrote in his notebook. 'Today I incurred a neck injury. I tried to look backwards, when I was already looking that way. It hurt. Today's lesson, the human head cannot turn 360 degrees!' 

On his way to the hangar, he passed through the cafeteria and noticed the girls in the kitchen. He passed Megumi and Minato in the hallway, met Yurika in the lift, and saw the three female pilots hanging around their aestevalises. Finn was struck by a sudden realization. Most of the crew here were women. 'Ahh, the wind that blows through this place.' He thought. 'Is blessed with the sweet scent of spring. And how sweet it is! What a wonderful wonderful place to work,' "So what's this all about?" he asked, walking up to Seiya. 

          "Blah!" He jumped, holding a plastic model in his hand. "Well, I er…" he hid the model. "Its your hull. It has me stumped." 

          "How so? I gave you all the relevant data. What's the problem?" 

          "Its what it's made out of. We can't repair your engines yet because we can't get to them, there are too many broken bits of the hull in the way. And we can't seem to remove the damaged parts. Just what the hell is this thing made of anyway?" Seiya asked, giving the frame a kick.

          "Now that," Finn said. "Is a secret,"

          "What does that mean?" Sieya asked confused. 

          "Well, a secret refers to something that is not supposed to be known by…" Finn began.

          "I don't mean the definition of the word secret! I mean what are we supposed to do with it?" Seiya was starting to loose his patience.

          "Simmer," Finn said. "Hold on a sec," he climbed into the ACF cockpit, and started digging around in search of something. A few minutes later he returned with an odd, gun shaped object. "Here," he said, tossing it to Seiya. "Use that,"

          "What is this thing?" Seiya asked, looking over the 'gun'.

          "It's a plasma cutter," Finn said simply.

          "Plasma cutter?

          "A plasma cutter is a gun that can either cut or fuse metal together. Plasma is a term that refers to the super heating of gas particles. In the case of a plasma cutter, it supers heats gas to approximately eleven times their vaporization temperature and blasts it in a controlled beam to cut metal. In order to fuse metal, the gas temperature is lowered to approximately five times its vaporization point so that it will heat the metal to a temperature where it can be fused together with other pieces without completely melting," Inez explained in a vidwindow. 

          "Uh…yeah," Finn sweatdropped. "I was just about to say that,"

          "And in the case of what his ship is made of…" Inez began. Finn closed the window.

          "Uh…don't listen to her. She's probably been…" Finn made the drinky drinky motion. 

          "Riiight," Seiya replied, and moved to a piece of the hull his men were trying to remove. "Alright men. Let me take a whack at it," he put on a pair of dark goggles and walked up to the broken ship. He hit the trigger and a bright blue beam of energy sprouted from the tip, slicing through the armoured plating like a hot knife through butter. "Oh wow!" Seiya hugged the gun. "Just think of the things I could do with this baby!" 

Just then, the ship shuddered due to the sound of a loud scream. "What was that?!" Finn darted out of the hangar in the direction of the noise, and followed a trail of smoke that was coming from one of the rooms. There was another scream and Yurika and Megumi came running out of the room.

          "Get out!" Akito yelled after having been poisoned twice by their cooking. Finn sweatdropped. 

          Finn decided to log some time in the simulator. Akatsuki was already there, brushing up on his flawless combat skills. 

          "Ha! I win again!" Akatsuki said triumphantly as he climbed out of the simulator cockpit. "Oh? What have we here?"

          "A pilot who's bored," Finn muttered and walked over to the simulator computer terminal. He produced a disk from his pocket and popped it in.

          "Just what are you doing?" Akatsuki asked. 

          "Just making some fine adjustments to the simulator," Finn replied.

          "What kind of 'adjustments'? I thought you couldn't pilot and aestevalis, only your little toy."

          "Care to find out?" Finn asked, climbing up into the simulator.

          "Fine. If you want to add to my simulator score, be my guest. A proper duel it is then," Akatsuki grinned at the opportunity to put this newcomer pilot in his proper place. 

They both climbed into their respected cockpits, closed the hatch, and began the simulation. Finn attached a wire to the IFS interface, which he then plugged into a pair of gloves. Finn slipped the gloves over his hands and sat back.

          "3…2…1…GO" the computer screen came into focus. It was a mountain battle scene. Finn chose to use his MAF frame, due to the high peaks and narrow canyons. He could see Akatsuki standing on the edge of a cliff, rifle aimed in his direction.

          "You're wide open," Akastuki said. "Just like Tenkawa," and fired a volley. Finn's jets came to life and blasted him high into the air, away from Akasuki's shots. "What?" Akasuki asked in a frustrated tone of voice. 

          "You're wide open," Finn mocked him. He pulled out his twin cannons and fired at Akatsuki, who barely managed to jump out of the way in his land aestivalis frame. Akatsuki cranked up his jets and leapt high into the air, targeting Finn with his retractable fists. The right fist fired, and flew harmlessly past Finn. However, Finn had to dodge the left fist. "Too slow," he flew straight at Aktasuki and smashed his giant robot's fist into the aestivalis head. Akatsuki stumbled back to regain his footing.

          "You're better than I thought,"

          "Not so bad yourself," Finn replied. Akatsuki charged, using his gun as a club and began swinging it at the Finn's frame. He scored a solid hit in the chest, Finn's frame fell backwards. 

          "Gotcha. You're mine!" Akasuki leapt high into the air, and came swung his gun as hard as he could into the Finn's head. He hit nothing but simulated dirt. Finn rolled away from Akatski and kicked the gun out of his hand. 

          "All talk my friend, all talk," Finn remarked and did a high kick into Akatsuki's chest. Akatsuki stumbled back and threw himself into Finn's frame. Finn was caught off guard and fell back, Akatsiki pinning his arms.

          "You still have much to learn," Akatsuki head butted Finn in the face repeatedly. 

'Ah, this is getting me nowhere,' Finn thought. He brought his knee up and pushed Akatsuki away. He then ripped a tree right out of the ground and swung it, connecting solidly with Akatsuki's head. 

"And what did that accomplish?" on impact the tree literally exploded into a cloud of splinters and bark, temporarily blinding Akatsuki. Capitalizing on his opponent's weakness, Finn flipped the blades under his wrists and ran at Akatsuki, who managed to see through the cloud of splinters and saw him coming. Akatsuki made a desperate leap into the air, and landed behind Finn.

 'He's fast,' thought Finn. 'But not fast enough,' he swung around and slashed open the chest of the aestivalis as it landed behind him. He then made a downward slash and opened the head. Akatsuki fell backwards.

          "GAME!" the computer's voice sounded. "Winner, Pilot Saotome!"

          "I lost?" Akatsuki asked himself. "How could I lose?" 'I'm the top pilot of the UF fleet!' he thought. 'This is impossible!'

          "Better luck next time, my friend," Finn said, climbing out of the simulator. "A tip. Know your enemy before you open your mouth," Akatsuki looked ready to blow a gasket, which made Finn's victory even sweeter.

          Finn wandered into the cafeteria, in search of a midday bite. There was a strange odour lingering in the room. When investigating further, he saw Yurika in the kitchen, wearing an apron, humming to herself. 

          "Mmm. Doesn't that smell good?" Yurika asked Miss Howmei, who was leaning on the counter. "I overcooked it the last time, that's what the problem was. But this time it will be perfect," Finn went up to the counter. "Now, all I need is someone to test it on,"

          "Excuse me?" Finn asked, knocking on the front counter. Yurika and Miss Howmei looked at him, and a devious grin crept up Yurika's face.

          "Oh, Lieutenant. You're just in time. Are you hungry?" Yurika asked.

          "Well, yeah, kind of," Finn replied.

          "That's great! Here, try some of this then," Yurika shoved a bowl of what Finn presumed to be some kind of ramen.

          "You're worried about my nutritional intake? I'm so happy!" little waterfalls fell from his eyes. Finn looked closely at the concoction. "Just what is it anyway?"

          "Its my own special miso soup ramen recipe. Go ahead, try some," Yurika said.

          "Here goes," Finn said, dipping a spoon into the mixture. "Quite a..um…unique aroma," he raised the spoon to his mouth and ate the soup. Yurika and Miss Howmei just were looking at him as though he had just eaten some kind of potentially poisonous insect. 

          "Well? How is it?" Yurika asked. Finn stared straight ahead, spoon still in his mouth. "Lieutenant?" she waved her hand in front of his face. Nothing. "Are you alright?" she poked him. 

          "Did you kill him?" Miss Howme asked.

          "I don't know," Yurika replied. "Lieutenant Saotome, answer me!" Finn coughed a little cough, smoke coming out of his mouth. Yurika and Miss Howmei both ducked as he breathed fire and melted a hole in the opposite wall. 

          "Spicy," he wheezed once the flames had subsided. 

          "You mean you like it? Oh that's wonderful!" Yurika grabbed the bowl and ran out of the cafeteria humming. The sounds of Akito screaming followed shortly thereafter.

          "Saotome. Are you alright?" Miss Howmei asked.

          "Just…* wheeze * peachy." Finn said fell backwards in his chair.

          "Tenkawa sure is unlucky," Miss Howme mused.

          "Miss Howmei." Finn managed to say. 

          "Yes Lieutenant?"

          "Water," was all he said. "Lot's of water,"

After Finn had downed several litres of water, he asked Miss Howmei a question. "Just what was that all about anyway?"

          "It's the fatal poison of love," she replied.

          "Oh…I see."

          "Anything else I can get you?"

          "Another bottle of water, please," Finn answered, his mouth still burning. When she returned Finn downed the bottle. "Much better. Thank you," Finn stretched his arms out and leaned back in his chair, his head over the back. His face collided with something. 'Hello, what's this." he thought and looked up and saw a very angry Ryoko, and froze. 'Mom! Dad! I'm coming to meet you!' Finn thought. 'I'm a dead man,'

"If you don't mind." She said. "Could you get your face out of my chest?" Ryoko dug her elbow into his face and he went crashing to the floor. There he lay, his face smashed in, twitching on the floor. Ryoko took a seat, Miss Howmei laughed lightly.

          "Do you really think that was necessary?" she asked.

          "He's been stalking me pretty much ever since he came on board the Nadesico," Ryoko replied. "What a freak,"

          "Hey!" Finn was now standing, a little blood slowly running down his nose.

          "What a recovery," Miss Howmei chuckled.

          "I haven't been stalking you!" Finn defended himself.

          "Yes you have! It's been what, three times we've 'bumped' into each other on the observation deck. And then there was that incident in Uribatake's room. Coincidences, I think not," Ryoko said accusingly.

          "Oh, blast you and your estragonical treachery!" said an exasperated Finn. "Just because we've run into each other a few times doesn't mean I'm stalking you. I mean, its not like I've snuck into your room to steal panties or anything!"

          "So now you're after my underwear? You disgust me, Saotome,"

          "Gah! That's not what I meant and you know it." Finn shot back and left the cafeteria. 

          "You two make a lovely couple," Miss Howmei remarked, after having sat in silence with a fuming Ryoko for a while. 

          "Isn't it cute?" the author asks, happy tears welling in his eyes.

          "What does that mean?" Ryoko asked.

          "You two remind me of a married couple," Miss Howmei replied laughing. "Are you sure you're not interested in him?" 

          "Of course I'm not interested in that lunatic!" Ryoko shouted. 

Elsewhere on the ship, Finn sneezed. 

          "I must be getting a cold," he said to himself. "What's that old saying? Sneeze three times and someone doesn't like you? Eh, I guess I'll live," 

And Finn went on his way. Later, Finn walked past Akito's door, he noticed that it was open, and someone was talking in there. 

          "Please teach me Akito," he heard a female voice ask. 

          "Hello, what have we here?" Finn asked himself, leaning against the wall just outside the door.

          "Look Hikaru, I really don't know," Akito said.

          "Please Akito. This is very embarrassing to ask," Hikaru pleaded. "But I need someone experienced like you. Please?"

          "But I don't know. What if someone saw us?"

          "No one will. It will be just the two of us, our little secret. Please teach me," Hikaru begged. 

          "I don't know. This is something really personal you're asking me to do here, Hikaru," 

          "Oh please Akito. Teach me, right here, right now." Hikaru pleaded, a slight tremble in her voice.

          'Does she really want him to teach her about riding the love salami?' Finn thought. 

          "Please teach me everything you know about Gekigengar," Hikaru asked. Outside the door, Finn facefaulted. "Did you just hear something?"

The sounds of footsteps came closer to the door.

          'Oh shit,' Finn thought, searching frantically for somewhere to hide. Trying doors at random, he finally found an unlocked one, slid it open, dove in, and closed it behind him. 'Please, please don't let them find me,'

          "Hm. Must have been nothing," Finn heard Akito say through the door. The sound of Akito's door sliding closed followed. 

          "Whew," Finn heaved a sigh of relief and sat with his back against the door. "Close one," 'I wonder whose room this is?' He thought after taking a brief look around. The door to the bathroom slid open.

          "Ahh. Nothing like a hot shower," Finn heard a female voice say. It sounded frighteningly familiar. "Arg, I can't believe that jerk," 

He thought about making a move to open the door and run for it, but then whoever this was would surely see him. "Saotome, what a nutcase," Finn's blood ran cold.

Finn looked in the direction of the voice. He spotted something. 'I know those,' he thought. Seeing the girl's barely covered chest. 'Not again. Why Ryoko?!' waterfalls streamed down his face. He turned his back to her, so that if she turned around, he wouldn't be staring. Ryoko hummed as she moved about. There was a mirror running from the base of the floor to the ceiling beside the door, where Finn was hiding. 'I can see her through the mirror!" Finn screamed in his head. 'I mustn't look. I must not. I shouldn't be seeing these things! A woman fully exposed, bearing her sumptuous, heavenly body unknowingly in the presence of a man! Ho, this is much too educational!"  his eyes slowly drifted towards the mirror. 'I…I can't stop it!' Ryoko standing in the bathroom with only a towel draped around her body. Finn's eyes wandered. 

"Sir, we're being pulled in!" his left eye said.

"All hands, abandon ship! Prepare for collision!" the right eye replied.

"What the?" Ryoko said in a surprised voice. "Hikaru? Is that you?"

'Goodbye cruel world,' Finn thought. 

"What are you doing there…" she stopped short. Finn allowed himself a brief look in the mirror, and saw Ryoko standing behind him, clad only in her bra and panties. "Alright, who are you?" 

"Erk!" Finn made some kind of squeak like noise and turned around, but kept his face turned away.

          "You…" Ryoko started.

          "Look, Ryoko. I can explain. You see…" Finn began.

          "You son of a…" The next few seconds passed in what seemed like slow motion. Finn was on the ground in the 'crouch of the wild tiger' position, also known as the 'begging for your life' position. He looked up. Ryoko's fist came into view, solidly connecting with Finn's face. Time returned to normal speed and Finn went flying back, right through the door, ricocheted off the opposite wall, and then down the hall, right past Hikaru who had just left Akito's room. Finally coming to rest in a pile of recycling bins and empty cans. Hikaru followed the path of destruction back to Ryoko room.

          "What happened here? A love affair took a wrong turn?" she teased. 

          "That…he…was in here…" Ryoko was choking on her own rage. 

          "You might not want to stand in the doorway dressed like that, you know." Hikaru suggested. Ryoko turned red and dove back into her room. Hikaru walked down the hall to where Finn's corpse was laying, half buried under a pile of garbage. "Are you alright Lieutenant Saotome? Still alive on us?" She asked, kneeling down in of him. Finn raised a hand out of the garbage and gave a weak thumbs up, and let his hand fall back down. 

          "Just…peachy," came a muffled voice. "That," he groaned. "Was educational,"

**Aqua Sky, White Water**

          "As you know. There are 2785 chulips scattered around the surface of the Earth," the Admiral began. "Our orders are to investigate a new type of chulip that landed 348 kilometres off the coast of what used to be known as Queen's Land Australia,"

          "Just what type of chulip?" asked Yurika.

          "We don't know exactly," the Admiral replied. "It is not the standard warpgate chulip that we are all familiar with. We believe that it is some type of transport ship,"

          "This isn't going to be another giant spider incident, will it?" Megumi asked worriedly.

          "We don't think so. The fact that it landed in the ocean raises possibilities that it is a new type of aquatic attack vessel. Captain, I suggest we set sail at once,"

          "Minato, plot a course that takes us 150 kilometres west of the chulip's approximated landing area," Yurika ordered. "There, that's settled,"

          "Um, Captain…?" Hikaru began.

          "What type of Aestevalis frame are we going to use underwater? The land and air frames won't work. And the space frame only works well in a vacuum, and the heavy artillery frame'll sink like a rock," Ryoko finished. 

          "What about the other type? The lunar surface frame?" Yurika asked.

          "We don't have any onboard,"

          "We're bored stiff," Izumi smirked. Everyone sweatdropped. 

          "So what are we going to do, Captain?" Ryoko demanded.

          "I…um…" Yurika opened a vidwindow to Seiya. "Uribatake, what kind of Aestevalis would work underwater?"

          "None work particularly well underwater," the mechanic replied. "Why do you ask?"

          "Because we're going to be attacking a chulip at the bottom the sea,"

          "We're doing what?! But none of our Aestivalis can operate at optimum level underwater!" Seiya was looked a little overly distressed. 

          "That's your problem now," Yurika said sweetly and closed the window. 

"But…"

"That solves that." Yurika said.

          "Didn't you just pass your problem off to Uribatake?" Hikaru asked.

          "Um…you're all dismissed." Yurika said, pretending not to hear the question. 

          Within hours, the Nadesico had reached its destination.

          "Captain, we've arrived at the site, 150 kilometres west of the chulip. Awaiting orders," Minato informed them. Seiya met them in the briefing area, he was dressed like a pirate.

          "Given that we only had a few hours to cobble this little work of art together, I think you all owe me big time," Seiya said, switching his eye patch from his left to his right eye.

          "So what exactly did you do?" asked Ryoko, looking over the specs of the aestivalis.

          "He didn't do anyone," Izumi snorted. Ryoko slammed her into the floor with anime hammer. "Blow me down!" Izumi was now laughing hysterically.

          "Since you'll be operating within the Nadesico's gravitron energy transfer range, we won't have to resort to those external batteries we used when facing the walking stick," Seiya explained.

          "So?" Akito asked when Seiya stopped short.

          "Ahem. I was just getting to that part. As you know, the jet engines need oxygen, as well as the gravitron energy, in order to generate thrust. The problem facing us is that under water there is no oxygen in a gaseous state. So what we've come up with is an attachment that attaches to the jet intake on your aestevalis. It sucks in sea water, which you all know is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, and separates the oxygen from the hydrogen atoms and then feeds that oxygen into your jet engine. That's pretty cool eh?"

          "Gee, this fanfic sure is educational," Finn added.

          "You got that right," the author said. "Now get back to work, you're straying from the story here,"

"So that means we can use our engines underwater now?" asked Akito.

          "Exactly. It's a good thing you have me along," Seiya gloated.

          "Why don't we just use the gravity blast cannon?" asked Megumi.

          "Because we've already tried that. The Cosmos was here a few days ago. They were called in first because they were closer. But even their multi barrelled gravity blast cannon couldn't penetrate chulip's distortion field," Inez explained. "However, our aestevalis units at a close range strike will probably be able to get through,"

          "So why didn't they launch aestis then?" Hikaru asked.

          "Because they don't have pilots experienced enough to take on the challenge of untested undersea combat technology," Inez answered. "The Nadesico has the most experienced pilots in the entire UF fleet. So we were a logical choice for this mission," 

          "Either that or we're the most expendable pilots," muttered Finn. 

          "What about you Lieutenant Saotome? Are either of your ships compatible for these attachments?" Yurika asked.

          "No need. My ships are powered by nuclear pulse engines, so they can operate anywhere, anytime." Finn answered.

          "Is there a preference as to which fighter you'll use?"

          "As far as I know they will both function fine underwater. But I think the MAF frame will be better suited for this mission. The ACF would be kind of slow underwater,"

          "Alright then. Akito, Hikaru, you will be in land engagement frames. Your primary mission is to take out the chulip. Ryoko, Izumi. You two are taking air combat frames. Your mission is to cover Akito and Hikaru as well as deal with any resistance. Saotome, you will be backup for both. Help whoever needs it the most. Akatsuki, you'll stay behind on standby," Yurika ordered. "You will go in low, close to the bottom and use the boulders our scans reviled as cover. Understood?"

          "Roger," the pilots replied.

          "Good. We launch immediately,"

          "Ok. This area's clear," Ryoko said over the comlink. "Akito, Hikaru, move in," she hovered with Izumi just above them in their converted air frames.

          "Rear's all clear," observed Finn, not really paying attention to what was going on behind them, but rather, what he saw above him, floating in a red aesti. 'Even in an aestivalis…oh this is so educational!' 

"Its as quiet as the inside of a drive shaft during rush hour," Akito said as he and Hikaru slowly approached the chulip, running from boulder to boulder as not to be seen. Ryoko and Izumi floated just above their heads while Finn followed a little ways behind. Security around the chulip seemed to be rather slack. A few grasshoppers here and there patrolling the area, and a warpgate chulip a further to the east, but nothing major. 

          "Its too quiet," Akito said to himself.

          "Quiet as a tomb," Izumi said in her odd way.

          "Which probably means it's too good to be true," Finn added, finally catching up with the others. "So what now?" 

They had gone as far as the field of rocks could take them towards the new chulip while keeping them hidden. However, the rest of the way was a field of gravel and sand. If they were to attack, they would to totally exposed. 

          "Saotome, are your beam weapons in any condition to be charged up again, like you did above Mars?" Ryoko asked. Finn flipped through some computer files.

          "I can get the weapon up to 45% power, any more than that and it would overload. The system's still not fully recovered from that last blast. answered Finn. His frames were only supposed to be prototypes, and the finer bugs had never been fully wrenched out.

          "Then what's the point of having those popguns in the first place?" Ryoko demanded.

          "Hey, this is a prototype. Not a mass produced tin can," Finn replied.

          "You trying to pick a fight with me?"

          ""What if I am?" Finn grinned.

          "Ok, we'll try that first," Ryoko gave up. "Try to remain as concealed as possible. The rest of you, be ready to cover him if need be,"

Finn separated the two cannons from his legs stepped out from behind the rock.

          "Here goes," he said to himself, and began to raise the power. Slowly, two yellow balls of energy could be seen glowing at the tips of the cannons. As Finn increased the power, the water around him heated noticeably, for his figure was slightly blurred by the waves of heat. At around 30% power, the gun began to spark a little. "Just a little further," the yellow balls grew brighter. Oddly enough, none of the Jovian craft seemed to notice, or care, about Finn's presence. He was clearly visible in the dim light, even with the dark colour scheme of his frame. 'This just doesn't make sense,' he thought to himself. 

          "Wait a second. Something's not right here," Izumi began. 

Finn's cannons reached the desired charge and he unleashed a brilliant blast of energy straight at the chulip. Any grasshopper units were vaporized, sending bubbles of gas up towards the surface. When the beam hit the chulip, the view exploded into a bright cloud of sand and silt.

          "Ha. Looks like we showed them," Hikaru said cheerfully, as she always did.

          "Don't celebrate prematurely," Finn warned.

          "Look." Akito said, staring at what lay before him. The chulip wasn't even scratched.

          "I don't believe this,"

          "What the hell?" Ryoko fumed. "Saotome, you did charge up as much as you could, right?"

          "Yeah. Whatever this chulip is carrying, it must be important. Otherwise they wouldn't give the thing such a powerful distortion field to protect it," answered Finn. Just as he finished those words, bubbles escaped from the chulip as it began to open. 

          "Well, whatever's in there, we're about to meet it," Akito floated back a few meters.

The chulip opened all the way, and slowly the Jovian's latest weapon emerged. It was big, very big. Easily as big as the Nadesico. 

          "What is that think?" Ryoko asked.

          "It looks like some kind of giant fish," answered Hikaru. Finn did a heat scan to get a better idea of what they were up against. What his screens showed him did not look good.

          "It's a ray," he said simply.        

          "What?" Ryoko asked.

          "Its like a sting ray, only big. Really big." Finn, continued with various scans of the ray, which was circling around the chulip. 

          "Whatever it is, lets just blow it up and go home," Ryoko said impatiently, taking the safety off her rifle.

          "Yeah, lets just shoot the damn thing and be done with it," Izumi added.

          "Wait," Finn said, still reading through the date his scanners had gathered.

          "Well?" Ryoko demanded.

          "If that thing blows, we all loose…" Finn began, but he was interrupted by a vidwindow with Inez's face in it.

          "That's right Lieutenant. According to my research on this particular piece of Jovian technology, it is basically a floating bomb," Inez explained.

          "So what does that mean?" Ryoko asked.

          "I was just getting to that. From the moment the Nadesico entered visual range with the chulip, this ray has been locked onto its energy signature,"

          "Which means…" Finn began.

          "That the Nadesico is its target," Inez finished.

          "So then why don't we just blow it up?" Akito asked.

          "Haven't you been paying attention?!" Ryoko whapped the back of his aesti's head. 

          "If you destroy it with conventional weapons, it would self destruct. The following explosion would vaporize everything within a three hundred-kilometre radius. Whoever, or whatever, designed this thing wanted to make sure its target was destroyed. And in this situation, the enemy has less to lose than we do. All that's lost for them are a few chulips and a few dozen grasshoppers," Inez, the master of explanation, explained. 

          "Alright, but if we can't blow it up, how do we destroy it?" Akito asked. They all sat in a circle and thought.

          "I know," Finn got up and unsheathed his blades. 

          "Just what are you thinking?" Ryoko demanded.

          "If we can't blow it up, why not chop it up?" replied Finn. "Cover me while I make a run at it," he jumped out from behind the rock and ran towards the ray. A few grasshoppers made a move to intercept him, but were blasted out of the water by the other pilots, who had spread out and laid down a cover fire. Finn jumped up and began slashing through the ray's distortion field. However, the field was proving difficult to get through. However, after a few more minutes of slashing the field shattered and fizzled out. 

          'This is too easy, Ryoko thought. By this time, Finn had landed on the ray, which still circled the chulip. 

          "Here goes," Finn said to himself and thrust his right blade through the ray's metal hull and deep into its back. A black liquid began to pour out of the hole

          "What's going on out there?" asked Inez.

          "Saotome's going to try and chop it up," Hikaru answered.

          "What? No! Stop him!"

          "Too late, looks like he's already started," said Akito.

          "Lieutenant Saotome! Do not cut open that ray!" Inez's face popped up in Finn's cockpit.

          "Too late, I've already cut it," Finn said. "What's the problem?"

          "That ray is filled with a high explosive in and unstable liquid form. Anything could set it off," Inez explained. By now the water surrounding the ray was stained with the dark substance. Finn stood by the open wound, staring at the gash he had made. The ray began to swim erratically through the water. Finn grabbed onto a loose piece of the ray's hull and hung on, for fear that he would be smashed to pieces by its giant tail if he let go. The ray flew through the water at a speed that nearly ripped him off, thrashing as though in agony from the puncture, but Finn hung on for dear life. 

          "Saotome! What are you doing?" Ryoko shouted over the comlink. "Let go of that thing,"

          "Can't!" Finn yelled back. It was obvious by the sound of his voice that hanging on was draining him physically. "If I were to be hit by that thing's tail, you'd be facing this ray, a few grasshoppers, and a large collection of TF bits. Besides, if I were to fire my engines, this thing would go off!" 

The ray made a sudden turn and made a beeline right for the Nadesico. Finn's face appeared on the bridge in a vidwindow. "Captain. Listen to me. Take the ship up, way up. FAST!"

          "But why? We can't just abandon you out there," Yurika protested.

          "Captain, you have to trust me. Do it!" Finn ordered, "This swimming bomb is headed right for you."

          "He's correct," Ruri said. "The ray has changed heading and is now on a collision course with the Nadesico," but Yurika still looked indecisive.

          "DO IT!" Finn yelled.

          "Captain! Do as he says!" came Ryoko's voice in another vidwindow.

          "The ray is now 135 kilometres away and closing. Collision in approximately fifteen seconds," reported Ruri.

          "Minato. Take us up at full power," Yurika said after a few moments. 

          "Roger, Captain," Minato fired the engines and the Nadesico shot out of the water and into the sky. The ray tried to follow, but splashed down into the water. However, it followed the Nadesico's energy signature underwater. 

          "Aestevalis now out of range of the Nadesico's gravitron beam,"

          Meanwhile, Finn's strength was fading fast. He held on by one hand unit now, the water was sucking him off the ray.

          "Can't, keep this up," Finn grunted to himself. Then he heard a strange sound. It sounded like a bird screeching. Looking up to where he held on, Finn saw a sight that made his blood run cold. The piece of the hull he was hanging onto was tearing away. 'Great, be bashed to pieces of blown up! What a choice!" Finn kept his eyes locked on his lifeline, which at any moment could kill him. The metal twisted and ripped back even further. 'I'll take my chances with the tail,' Finn thought and let go of the torn hull. He bounced down the hull of the ray as he flew back and skidded along its back. "On second thought, this is kind of…scary!"

          There was a brilliant white flash of light. Down on the ocean floor, there was an eerie quiet before the shockwave ripped the Aestivlises out from behind the rocks and threw them into the swirling ocean. High above at the edge of space the crew on the bridge of the Nadesico looked on in horror at what they saw below them. It looked as though someone had detonated a stockpile of nuclear weapons. A huge wave, visible from space, moved out from the explosion. 

          "Minato takes us down!" Yurika ordered. "We have to pick up the pilots!"

          "That is not advisable, Captain," Ruri said. "The explosion is still being fed. The Nadesico would be vulnerable if we went down. I suggest, in order to protect the lives of the crew, we maintain this altitude until all of the explosion's fuel has been used up," 

Flying pieces of the ray that had weathered the explosion without vaporizing flew past the Nadesico and bounced off its distortion field, even though the Nadesico was at a safe distance. The Nadesico held its position, but at least made attempts to contact the aestivalis. However, due to the explosion, no messages could be sent too received by the aestivalis team. Finally, after two agonizing hours, the static lifted, and the Nadesico was at last able to contact the aestivalis team.

          "We're all ok," Ryoko reported. "Akito, Izumi, Hikaru, and I are a little beat up, but the sestis were able to handle it,"

          "What about Lieutenant Saotome?" Yurika asked. A silence engulfed the bridge.

          "We don't know," Ryoko said quietly after a long while. 

          "Megumi, open a communication channel, all frequencies. See if Saotome is out there somewhere,"

 Megumi hit a few controls.

          "Lieutenant Saotome, come in." Megumi said over the comchannel. "Do you read?"

'Wow, Deja-vu,' most of the crew thought. But there was no response.

"It is possible that his distortion field was not strong enough to withstand that explosion," Ruri said simply. Ryoko's froze.

"He's alive," she said. 'I still have to pay him back'

Izumi's face popped up in her cockpit. "He'll be back," was all she said. Ryoko closed the window.

'I can't feel like this, she thought. 'I'm a soldier. I don't act this way.' The vidwindow that should contain Finn's face continued to crackle and fizz of static. The window blurped and fizzled. 

"Lieutenant Saotome? Do you read. Nadesico calling, do you copy?" Megumi asked again.

"Ooooowwwww," came a staticy voice on the other end.

"Saotome, is that you?" Yurika asked.

          "What hit me?" Finn groaned, his outline was now recognizable in the static filled vidwindow.

          "SAOTOME!" Ryoko shouted at him. 

          "Hey, could you be a little quieter?" Finn covered his ears as best he could in his metal suit. "I feel like I got hit by a whole Jovian fleet,"

          "Idiot," she said softly, and wished she could see his face under that helmet. "If you ever do something that stupid again I'll personally make you one with my shoe! Not that I really care about you one-way or another," she added, hearing Hikaru and Izumi snickering about something.

          "Heeey, now that hurts my feelings,"

          "Ahem, if I could interrupt here," Yurika broke in. "Just where are you anyway?"

          "Hmm…good question," the sound of buttons being hit could be heard. "Most of my monitors were knocked out. But from what I can see, it looks like I'm…" he stopped short.

          "Well…?" Yurika pressed.

          "On the moon?" Finn said after a while. 

          "How in the hell did you get there?!" Ryoko asked/shouted. Just then, a vidwindow with a sizzled looking UF admiral appeared.

          "Just what the hell was that thing!?" he demanded, his glasses cracked and his face singed. 

          "Just what are you talking about?" the Nadesico's Admiral Ubatake asked.

          "This!" the screen flipped to an outside view of the Delphidium Launch Station in low Earth orbit. Through the middle of the station was a giant hole in the shape of a certain robot. "We tracked whatever that thing was from your location. Just what were you thinking?"

          "Calm down Admiral," Yurika said simply.

          "That's right Jim. It wasn't our fault. It was that crazy Nergal Special Forces officer!" Ubatake pointed at Finn's vidwindow, still staticy, his image occasionally being replaced with grainy static.

          "I thought Nergal Special Forces were abolished," the Admiral said suspiciously. Everyone looked in Prospector's direction.

          "Um…well, yes. They were this is a…" Prospector's mind raced. 'A nutcase? No, that won't do. A mercenary? Yes that's it,' "special case. He was part of Nergal Special Forces, and when they were abolished he…um…stole aestevalis type technology and modified it. But he's on our side, I can assure you,"

          "I see," The Admiral said suspiciously. "We'll expect a full report on this pilot and his aestivalis unit. Plus, we will be shipping Nergal a bill for half the station that was destroyed!" he said and closed the vidwindow. Prospector heaved a sigh of relief. 

'The Admiral didn't suspect a thing.' Prospector thought. 'Figures, he's too stupid to know what shoe goes on what foot.' Ubatake was dancing around waving his little fan around. "Now Captain, don't you think we should pick up our pilots and retrieve Lieutenant Saotome from the moon?"

"Oh right. I forgot. Minato…" Yurika began.

"Already done." Minato answered.

"Idiots," Ruri said under her breath.

**Luna**

          Finn woke slowly from a deep sleep. Above him he could hear the whir of the fan in the air duct above his head. 'Where am I?' he thought. Opening his eyes, he saw that the room he was in was very dark. Only a sliver of light entered the room from under the door, but he could make nothing out of the room that held him. Finn sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. 'Think,' he thought, and began going through the last few things he remembered. The sound of Ryoko's voice shouting at him. A bright light. 'Then what?' he asked himself. 'What happened after that?' He got up and walked towards the closed blind of the window. What he saw when he pulled the blind up made him freeze. Outside, there was nothing but gray rocks and dust. The dust began to swirl in a heavy wind. 'Wait, there's no wind on the moon.' Upon looking up, Finn's heart skipped a beat. There was a robot, a big robot, much bigger than any aestivalis or his TF frames. The monster had long metallic claws, and an opening in its chest that spewed fire and destruction everywhere. Finn rushed the to door, only to find it locked. He rammed his shoulder into the door, trying to force it down. It wouldn't budge.

          "Come on, damnit!" he said frustrated. The monster, Finn saw after taking another glance out the window, was walking his way; sending clouds dust up into the sky with every step. The gaping cavity in its chest opened, and spit its fire at him. Finn tried the door again. 

          "No!" Finn shot bolt upright, drenched in a cold sweat. Someone slowly pushed him back down into his futon and placed a cool, moist cloth against his forehead.

          "Calm down, you were having a nightmare," said an old woman. Finn opened his eyes. He lay on a futon at the centre of a small, dimly lit room. There was a small TV sitting on a stand opposite a couch at one end and a small table with four chairs seated around it at the other. "Here, drink this." She pressed a bowl containing some hot liquid to his lips. Finn sat up, took the bowl and drank. "There's a good lad. You gave us quite a scare there." 

          "Where am I?" he asked after a while of silence.

          "You're in the city of New Halifax, fourth district of the lunar surface," the old woman answered.

          "The moon? How did I get here?" he asked himself.

          "I don't know, lad. We found you outside our airlock on the ground. It looked as though you had taken quite a beating. It's a good thing Koji, my husband, was out with an ice collection crew and found you," the old woman explained.

          "I see," Finn said quietly. "Thank you. Who are you?"

          "I'm Jan," the old woman said. "What were you doing out there all by yourself? I would have thought you'd be old enough to know not to go outside without a partner."

          "I…I don't remember." Finn said. 'I remember the ray, the battle, the light. Then what? What happened?! How did I get here?'

          "Like I said, it looked as though you had taken quite a beating. Get caught in a rockslide? They happen from time to time. Especially around here." Jan said. Finn pulled back the sheets and slowly got up, but stumbled a few steps until he found a wall to brace himself against. "Not too quickly now there, lad. What's the hurry?" Finn felt for his communicator on his wrist. It wasn't there.

          "The band…around my wrist," he was breathing heavily. "Where is it?"

          "Oh, that thing? I just put it in the drawer here." She opened the drawer and took out his communicator. Finn took if from her and strapped it back on.

          "Thanks," he said, and fiddled with the buttons. However, it refused to open a comchannel to the Nadesico. "What the?"

          "If you're trying to make contact with someone outside of the city, I'm afraid it's no good by normal means." Jan said.

          "What do you mean?"

          "This city was only recently reclaimed from the Jovians. We've only been here a short while, but they have set up some kind of barrier system to protect it from attack."

          "You mean like the Big Barrier?" Finn asked.

          "I should think it's about the same as the Big Barrier. It was designed by that company the Crimson's own."

          "I see. Is there anyway to contact anyone outside the barrier?"

          "Yes, you can go down to the public communication centre, they'll let you open a channel through. But I say, lad, why do you want to talk to someone outside the city so badly?" Jan asked, sounding both concerned and confused.

          "I've got to contact my ship…I mean…my wife," Finn lied. 'Who knows how people felt about the Nadesico on the moon?' he thought, remembering the boos and rotten fruit thrown at the ship sometimes when it docked to take on supplies. "I was running a transport to the L3 colony and I…um…" Finn fumbled for words. "Hit an uncharted piece of space junk. It must have taken out my engines and forced me to crash."

          "Oh, you're married at your age, lad?" Jan giggled. "What's the dear's name?"

          "I…er…" Finn frantically searched his mind for a girl's name. Surprisingly enough, even though he served on a ship with half the crew being female, he found it difficult to find one. "Ryoko," he said finally.

          "They marry so young nowadays," Jan said to herself, still giggling. However, she asked no more questions regarding his 'marriage'. Finn sat down on the futon.

          "How long have you lived here on the Moon?" he asked, trying to make polite conversation.

          "For a number of years now. We used to live on Mars, but now that those lizards are around…" she trailed off.

          "But I thought there was no successful evacuation of Mars?" Finn said confused.

          "Oh, a few of us managed to escape before the Jovians began expanding. We used to live in the South Point colony, close to Mars south pole, the Jovains didn't hit that area, so a few or our shuttles made it off the ground," Jan explained.

          "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention my name," Finn said, remembering manners as a guest.

          "Oh, think nothing of it, lad. I haven't mentioned my last name either. So I won't tell if you won't," she laughed again. "Welcome to the Saotome residence." Finn froze. 

          "Did you say Saotome?" Finn asked, not believing his ears.

          "Yes, does that surprise you?" Jan asked.

          "Uh no, its just that I uhh…" Finn was interrupted by the door opening and an old man walked in.

          "Ahh, he's awake, is he?" He walked into the little kitchenette and put a kettle on. "How are you feeling?"

          "Um…very well sir. Thank you," Finn fumbled for words. 

          "So, what happened to you out there?" the man, who turned out to be Koji, asked. Finn recited what he had told Mrs. Saotome. They sat in silence for a few moments taking sips of tea, until Finn noticed a picture sitting on a small table. It was of a small boy standing beside the Saotomes, obviously taken many years earlier.

          "Excuse me," Finn said, putting down his teacup. "May I ask who that is?" He motioned to the picture.

          "Oh, that." Mrs. Saotome seemed somewhat surprised. "That's our boy, Finny. But that was a long time ago." Finn's heart stopped for a moment. 

          'What the hell is going on here?' he thought. "Where is he now?"

          "We don't know exactly. He was sent to us for to be taken care of while the people at Nergal searched for what they called 'suitable accommodations', Even today I don't quite understand what they meant, but we always wanted to child to look after, so we took him in. He was a quiet one, never said a word, but he was still part of the family." Mrs. Saotome's seemed to be enjoying reminiscing. Finn got up and took a closer look at the photograph. The boy was wearing simple cloths, blue shorts and a white tee-shirt, but was his eyes that showed everything. There was no doubt about it now. 

          'That's me, this has got to be me. But why don't I remember these people?' Finn's mind raced. Then, something struck him, a memory. But from when? He was being led off by a cold woman, and was looking back at a man, who smiled and waved goodbye to him. Finn glanced at Mr. Saotome. 'Its him.' "Excuse me, what was his name again?"

          "Finny. I know that may a bit odd. A boy with an English first name and a Japanese surname. Koji here wanted to name him Keitaro, but I was firm in my decision that he had a proper English name. I was born and raised in England, you see, and always wanted children of my own. So when we finally had someone to look after, I made it perfectly clear that we was going to have at least part of an English name." Mrs. Saotome explained.

          "Yes you did, dear. Even though the lad looked Japanese, you kept saying 'He'll have a Japanese surname, so he must have an English first name at the very least.' You didn't budge on that. You always were stubborn," Mr. Saotome laughed. "Speaking of names, I don't believe I've heard yours yet."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Its Fi…um…, Jiro Amada," Finn answered, picking the first name that came to mind. He remembered Akito's friend who had been killed from the reports, and he had been watching 8th MS Team with Akito earlier before the mission, so the name seemed to make sense to him, even if it was obvious he was lying. He just hoped it fooled the Saotomes.

They sat around chatting for a while longer. After they finished dinner, Finn thanked them for their hospitality and said he would go find a room to stay in. However, they insisted that he at least spend the night. After a few minutes of polite protesting, Finn finally gave in, and was soon asleep in his futon in the Saotome's living room.

"Captain, beginning approach to the moon," Ruri reported as the Nadesico approached the moon.

"Is Saotome's location beacon still active?" Yurika asked.

"Yes Captain. I am calculating his exact position." Ruri gave some commands to the computer. "I am currently tracking Lieutenant Saotome's frame just outside the lunar city of New Halifax."

"Minato, set course for the fourth district, New Halifax,"

"Roger that, Captain." Minato replied and entered new heading into the computer.

"Reading abnormally high concentration of bose particles. Calculating exact position," Ruri said. "Captain, the reading is coming from 3.58 kilometers lunar west of the New Halifax colony."

"Is it a chulip?"

"No ma'am. It appears to be robot unit of unknown classification."

"Give me a visual," Yurika ordered. 

"Negative. Target is beyond the range of the Nadesico's visual sensors." Ruri said. "Target is closing in on the colony."

"See if you can contact Lieutenant Saotome." Yurika said, trying to figure a way out the situation. 

"Lieutenant Saotome, come in. Do you read?" Megumi said, trying to open a communication channel. 'Damnit, why doesn't he ever respond to me?' I see a recurring theme in the plot here.'

"Quiet you," the author said. "Get back to work, I'm not paying you to just sit there the whole story."

"Fine," Megumi said. "Captain, I am unable to reach Lieutenant Saotome."

"Its possible he's just sitting there dead in his cockpit." Minato suggested grimly.

"Negative. I am tracking Lieutenant Saotome's communicator's signal from within the colony. The colony's barrier system could be preventing us from making contact," Ruri explained. 

"Maintain current speed and heading. Have all aestivalis pilots on standby." Yurika ordered. 

          Finn woke to a rumbling sound. It felt as if the building was lightly being shaken. 'An earthquake?' he thought, sitting up. Just then, there was a loud crack of thunder, followed by a loud roar and a brilliant flash of light. Bolting out of bed, Finn ran out of the small house and into the outside service tunnel and stopped at the airlock. He pressed his face close against the small portal showing the outside, which was the only window he knew of. What he saw outside filled him with fear and anger. 'Its them,' he thought, remembering the nightmare he had when he first awoke at the Saotome's house. Finn ran back inside the house and flipped on the light. Mrs. Saotome appeared from the bedroom.

          "Whats going on, lad? What was that rumbling I just felt?" she asked.

          "Listen," Finn said, searching the room. "Where did you put the suit I was wearing when I was found?"

          "Its here, in the closet. Why? Are you going out?" she seemed confused. Finn opened the closet and, sure enough, there was his piloting suit. He grabbed it and suited up. "Where are you going?"

          "I'm going out," Finn said, holding his helmet under his arm. "Thank you for your hospitality. I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer." And he bolted out the door. Mrs. Saotome watched him go.

          "Poor lad." She said, and the colony shuddered again. 

Outside the airlock, Finn clipped his helmet on and went out into the vacuum that was the lunar surface. He looked around until he said what he was looking for. Tracks. More specifically, tracks the led the way to his ship.

          "Please, please let it still be there." Finn said as he sprinted as best he could in the low gravity. A little way off, Finn could see the gigantic robot that was hammering the colony's barrier with gravity blasts. Finn followed the tracks he had made when he had crawled across the Moon's surface looking for the colony. Not too much later, Finn found his ship, jumped into the open cockpit.

          "Come on baby, come on," he said to himself as he brought the main systems online. However, a few of his monitors refused to cooperate. "Damnit!" he shouted and punched a misbehaving monitor, which fizzled and came to life. A good number of the frame's systems were still knocked out, but it could still move and, hopefully, still fight. He made his frame stand up, brought the engines online and flew towards the unidentified robot. Whatever it was, it was huge, much larger than an aestivalis, and even bigger than his ACF frame. Four long, claw like appendages were at the end of each of the robot's arms. From its chest, came a brilliant flash of light. 'It's the same. Exactly the same as in that dream.' The barrier system was almost gone. The robot raised one of its mammoth arms and slashed through the remaining energy in the barrier. It was just about to trample a part of the city, when a bolt of energy from Finn's rifle knocked it away. The robot seemed to look at him, before it slashed its claws at him. Finn jumped back, then thrust forward, slamming his frame's fist into its chest. However, his fist was stopped by a distortion field surrounding the enemy robot. "Little bugger," he said to himself and unsheathed his wrist blades. However, before Finn could launch another attack, the robot lunged forward, slashing its claws across Finn's left shoulder. "AHH!! Au secours Grandmama!" he stopped for a moment. "Wait a sec, why am I crying in French?" The robot hammered him with another blow to the should strut. "Scary!" 

          "Lieutenant Saotome. Do you read?" Megumi's vidwindow appeared in his cockpit.

          "About time you guys got here," Finn said, dodging another swing from his opponent's claws.

          "Status report," Yurika's face now appeared.

          "Left arm's busted. I can't use it. Currently engaged in combat with a new type of Jovain unit. Sending visual," Finn sent the video feed to the bridge of the Nadesico. Finn's window flickered with static. "A little help would be prime!"

          "Launching aestivialis units. However, you are outside of the gravitron beam energy feed. It will be a few minutes longer before we can assist you. Pull back until our arrival," Yurika ordered.

          "Can't," Finn said as he leapt high into the sky, over the enemy's head. "It'll destroy the colony. The best I can do is keep it distracted until you get here." Finn's window suddenly closed.

          "Lieutenant Saotome's radio transmitter has been destroyed by the enemy robot, code named Goliath." Ruri reported. 

          "Damnit, hold on just a little while longer." Ryoko said to herself in her aesti cockpit.

          Meanwhile, Finn was not faring so well. His left arm was immobile, his communications were gone, half is visual monitors weren't working, and many other systems were down.

          "At least I can still fly, sort of," he muttered as he landed behind the goliath robot. Spinning around he ran his right blade in a long slash across its back. The goliath paused momentarily before swinging around and unleashing a gravity blast right in Finn's face. However, because of the gash in its back, it was unable to fully charge the gravity blast. All but one monitor was knocked out and Finn could no longer move. He felt his frame being grabbed around the middle and lifted into the air.

          "Captain, I am receiving an incoming transmission from the Jovian Goliath," Megumi said. "Opening communications link."

          "Attention Earthlings. This is Commander Sanoske Hashima of the Jovain Forces." The crew stood shocked. 

          "Why are you working for the lizards?" Yurika demanded. "You traitor."

          "Lizards? I have no time for your childish questions. I demand that you and your humanoid fighters retreat from the Moon now. If you do not comply I will destroy the robot I have here," the Jovian known as Sanoske said. He squeezed Finn's frame, and sound of bending metal could faintly be heard. "Come any closer and I will destroy it. You have fifteen minutes to comply," And he closed the channel. The crew stood in silence.

          "Captain?" Prospector asked. Yurika's face turned from one of shock to one of determination.

          "Ruri, how long until the goliath unit is within the range of the Nadesico's gravitron beam?" She asked.

          "One minute if we hold present speed and heading," answered Ruri.

          "What's the range of the aestivalis's rifles?" Yurika asked.

          "153.5 kilometres."

          "Good. Minato full stop. Attention all pilots," she opened a comlink to the five aestivalis pilots. "Ryoko, Izumi, Hikaru. I need you three to take up sniper positions at these three positions," She gave the pilots three positions, from behind large boulders scattered on top of lunar hills. "Your objective here is to distract the goliath and, hopefully, inflict some damage on the thing. Akito, Akatsuki, you two will take up position at the very edge of the gravitron beam's range. As soon as Ryoko and her squad complete their objectives, The Nadesico will move far enough towards so that you can engage the enemy robot without using your internal battery reserves. I want you two to charge the goliath. Your primary objective here is to recover Saotome's frame. Understood?"

          "Roger," came the reply. Ryoko, Hikaru, and Izumi took their positions. Hikaru took the left flank, which was behind a large lunar boulder, Ryoko took the centre position, which was on the top of a large hill, and Izumi took the right flank, which was inside a shallow crater. 

          "In position, Captain," Ryoko said.

          "Tenkawa and I are also ready," Akatsuki added.

          "Good. Commence operation," Yurika ordered. Ryoko and her team  aimed their rifles at the goliath's head, which was the only part of the robot to shoot without running the risk of hitting Finn. 

          "Fire!" Ryoko ordered, and the three fired from their sniper positions. Puffs of smoke erupted off the goliath's head. 

          "I warned you." Sanoske's voice once again sounded on the bridge. 

          "Goliath unit is crushing the MAF frame, Captain," Ruri said.

          "Minato, ahead full speed until the goliath is in range," Yurika ordered.

          "Roger, Captain." Minato said, and moved the ship forward.

          "Akito, Akatsuki, Go now!" Yurika ordered. 

          "Roger!" they both said and charged the goliath unit. They both slammed their shoulders into the goliath, causing it to stumble stumbled and dropped Finn. Akito grabbed the battered frame under both arms and dragged it back.

          "Ryoko, you're all clear, no need to worry about hitting Saotome," Akatsuki said as he grabbed the MAF's legs. 

          "Alright girls, let him have it!" Ryoko shouted and they fired without any hesitation. The goliath stood up, bullets puncturing its hull. The air around it shimmered and it disappeared. "What the hell? Where did it go?" 

          "It would appear that the Jovians are now able to successfully boson jump life forms. The goliath unit jumped beyond the Nadesico's sensor range." Inez explained. All the pilots returned to the hangar. Finn's frame was not in good shape. Most of the outer part of the left shoulder and arm had been ripped away, the middle area and cockpit looked like it had been run through a trash compactor, and there were dozens of cracks, dents, and tears all over.

          "Oh sweet merciful crap! My baby!! Not again! What the in the hell does this guy do to this thing?!" Seiya looked pissed. "Every time he goes out, this happens?! Why does he always have to be the hero?"

          "Just get him out of there." Yurika said in a not-too-worried tone of voice. The crew began their work, trying to open the cockpit. However, before they could get very far, a banging noise came from inside and the cockpit lifted a few millimetres and closed again. This continued for a while until the hatch finally burst open and Finn jumped out. He ripped his helmet and was breathing heavily. 

          "Air! Sweet, cold, recycled, but air!" he heaved. Seiya ran over to him, took his shoulders, and began to shake him.

          "What the hell were you thinking? Look what you've done?! Do you really expect us to fix that after all that?!" the vein in Seiya's forehead looked ready to blow. But Finn just laughed. Ryoko, Izumi, and Hikaru stood off to the side.

          "He's back," Hikaru said, poking Ryoko.

          "Beat it," Ryoko said.

          "Beat it. Just beat it," Izumi snickered, and they wandered off. Except for Ryoko, who walked up to Finn after Seiya had finished beating the crap out of him.

          "Ya did good, Saotome" she said and extended her hand. Finn looked flabbergasted. 

          'She called me by my first name. Oh happy day! She's not going to kill me!' he thought. "Thanks," he said, and shook her hand. When they let go, Ryoko punched him hard in the stomach. "Why…why…why…" Finn stammered, the wind knocked out of him.

          "I warned you, if you ever pulled another stunt like that I'd kick the crap out of you. Consider yourself lucky," Ryoko said. She permitted herself a small smile and laugh, then walked away.

**They're WHAT?!**

          "Why are you still in your room, Lieutenant?" asked the bitch queen, also known was Erina Wan. "The Captain wants to debrief you on that last battle."

          "Finn tired, go sleepy," Finn moaned and pulled his sheets tighter around him.

          "Two hours is plenty of time to rest."

          "Maybe to undead snakewomen like you," Finn muttered.

          "I beg your pardon?" Erina asked, sounding slightly more pissed off than she usually does. 

          "Nothing," Finn said and closed the vidwindow. "Sleep, rest, at last." And he closed his eyes and began to drift back into sleep.

          "SAOTOME!!!" Finn jumped several feet in the air and clung to the ceiling. "Where the hell are you? We want to get this debriefing over with. Get your ass up here now!" 

          "Fine, fine," Finn moaned and got up. "Be there in two." He began to change out of his sleepwear, boxers and undershirt. 

          "Pervert," Ryoko said. Finn slowly looked back and saw that the window was still open.

          "You don't have to stare you know," Finn said and closed the window, but not before seeing Ryoko's face turn red, and hearing a few snickers in the background. When he finally arrived at the bridge, Ryoko was still a slight shade of red.

          "There you are. What took you so long?" Erina demanded.

          "Hey, I've had about three hours sleep these past few days. Give me a break," Finn snapped, sounding slightly irritated. "Snake," he added under his breath.

          "Saotome, there you are." Yurika was standing in the middle of the giant screen that made up most of the lower bridge's floor. "As most of you know, our recent discovery about the Jovians confirms our worst nightmares."

          "You mean a pregnant spider crawled up your nose while you were asleep and laid eggs in your skull?" Finn asked.

          "Ok, our second worst nightmare," Yurika said. "How did he know about that?" she added to herself. "From what we understand, the Jovian Lizards, are, or at least have, human beings, just like us. And they have now succeeded in boson jumping life forms."

          "Excuse me?" Finn asked. "Where are you getting this from?"

          "Playing audio record 2n639." Ruri said and a staticy recording played. Most of the crew recognized the voice belonging to the man who called himself Sanoske. 

          "When did you get this?" Finn demanded.

          "During the battle while your radio was knocked out," Ruri answered.

          "So you're telling me that the Jovians are human?"

          "Uh hu." Yurika nodded.

          "Well ain't that just prime." Finn said. "So all this time we've been fighting other people?"

          "That's correct Lieutenant," Inez said in her special explanation way. "However, if you take that statement literally, then the answer is no. Up to this point in time all Jovian units we have encountered were unmanned robot fighters, such as the grasshoppers, spiders, hacker crabs, and chulips. This means that we have technically been fighting unmanned robots and not other people. However, if you look into the deeper meaning of you're question, then yes, the Jovian Lizards that control the robot fighters are human and therefore we have been fighting other humans all along," There was a collective sweatdrop.

          "It was a rhetorical question," Finn said quietly. 

          "Well, setting that aside, I think we have more important questions to answer, such as how you made it to the Moon," Inez said.

          "What's so complicated about that? You saw how that ray blew; I don't think it's that hard to understand what happened. Ray goes boom, I go flying off into space, and leave a robot imprint on the Moon's surface," Finn said.

          "Its not as simple as you make it out to be. Due to the explosion, it is difficult to determine exactly what happened. While the sensor data does concur with your somewhat basic explanation, there are a few things that still don't make sense," Explained Inez.

          "Such as…?" Finn asked.

          "Well, it's difficult to say for certain due to the interference caused by the explosion, but it would seem that you were not holding onto the ray when it exploded. A blast of that intensity and magnitude would surely have vaporized your ship, even with the distortion field at full power. From what data could be collected, it appears that you're ship appeared several thousand meters above the ray the instant it exploded." Inez explained.

          "But that doesn't make sense. I don't remember flying away like that. I'm pretty sure I was holding onto that thing until a few seconds before it blue," Finn said, puzzled.

          "I can't say for certain because not enough data could be collected in that split second,"

"We get the idea," Finn interrupted Inez apology for lack of data.

"It's possible you did fly there and don't remember it due to the stress put on your mind and body. It is not uncommon for such things to happen when the mind is under a great deal of stress." 

          "Inez not knowing what's going on?" Akito asked. "That's just great. If she can't figure it out then no one will." From her post at the helm, Erina smiled her evil little smile. Akatsuki also smirked.

          'What are those two so happy about?" Finn asked himself. 'I'll have to keep an eye on those two.'

          "The Nadesico will land at the Nergal research facility in district four to take on supplies. We will arrive there in two hours, I suggest you all get some rest, I think we've all had a pretty exhausting day. You are all dismissed." Yurika said and the crew dispersed.

          In a dark room, the only light came from a computer screen. At the controls sat Erina going over what appeared to be video logs and sensor readings.

          "So what's this?" a voice from behind asked. Erina jumped slightly.

          "Oh, its you," she said. "What are you doing here, Akatsuki?"

          "Just seeing what you're up to." Akatsuki said with a slight chuckle. "What is this?"

          "The sensor readings and video logs from when Saotome fought that Jovian ray," Erina said, typing in a few more commands.

          "What's so special about that?"

          "Watch." The data played, showing the position of the MAF during the last moments before the ray exploded. A red light blinked at the point where the ray exploded and Finn was lost to the Nadesico's sensors.

          "What's that red light mean?" Akatsuki asked.

          "It means that there was a brief, but high concentration of bose particles around Saotome when he disappeared from the Nadesico's sensors," Erina explained. The screen showed the MAF's tracking signal suddenly disappear, then reappear away from the ray.

          "What's that other file open?" Akatsuki pointed to an open file.

          "Akito Tenkawa, the moment the Nadesico jumped from Mars." Erin said, and played the video file. It showed Akito in his room watching Gekigengar. After a few seconds he disappeared, and the video switched to a view of the observation deck, where he suddenly rematerialized. Akatsuki grinned.

          "Interesting," he said.

          "Yes. Very interesting indeed," Erina said with a slight grin. She closed the file and encrypted it in her personal logs.

          Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Finn was busy pacing and close to just ripping the hair off his head.

          "Agh! I can't believe this! All this time we thought we were fighting to save the human race. But instead it just turns out to be a war just like any other," Finn said, and sat down.

          "Yeah, just when you think you're fighting for a good cause, it turns out to be no more noble than any other war," Ryoko said, her head in her arms against a table.

          "So what are you guys going to do now?" Akito asked.

          "What do you mean?" Hikaru asked.

          "Well, are you going to quit fighting? Or are you going to keep going, knowing you're killing other people?"

          "I don't know," Hikaru said, sounding somewhat hesitant to answer.

          "I'm not quitting," Finn said. "I'm committed to seeing this thing through. We're all in too deep to just walk away."

          "Yeah. We all joined to fight, we can't just walk away because or personal feelings conflict with our duty," Ryoko said. "But still, I don't have to like it."

          "And you can't quit. That's second 252 of your contract," Izumi said, wearing a mask of Prospector's face.

          "So what are your plans for when the war's over?" Akito asked after a long, silent, while.

          "I dunno. Continuing to be a pilot I guess." Ryoko answered. "Not that I'm much good at anything else," she added to herself. "What about you?

          "Well, I still haven't given up on my dream of being a chef. What about you, Hikaru?" Akito asked.

          "Well, I used to work drawing mangas. So I guess I could always return to that," Hikaru answered. "What about you, Izumi?"

          "I never wanted to be a pilot," Izumi said in a very serious voice. "I wanted to be…" she let her words hang for a moment. "a lumberjack!" Everyone facefaulted. "Leaping from tree too tree as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. The larch! The fir! The mighty scotch pine!"

          "I should have seen this coming." Akito said, a sweatdrop on his head. Hikaru put tape over Izumi's mouth while Ryoko tied her to a chair. 

          "That'll hold her," Hikaru said, but Izumi kept singing, or trying to under the tape. "What about you, Finn?" 

          "Hm?" Finn looked up.

"Well, what did you do before the war?" Akito asked. Finn had a resentful and grim expression on his face. The room fell silent.  

          "Me?" Finn got up from his seat. "I don't know," he said quietly.

          "I wouldn't mind knowing either." Akatsuki said, leaning against the doorway to the cafeteria. 

"That's none of your business," Finn replied coldly.

"Hey, why so glum? I'd have thought learning the true identity of our enemies would've cheered you guys up. I mean, at least now we know who we're fighting." Finn glared at him, while the most of the other pilots looked as though they were thinking about what he had just said. "But I didn't come here as a motivational speaker. I just came by to tell you that the UF has decided to classify this information as top secret, so you're not allowed to tell anyone off this ship. If the public ever found out, we're dead meat."

          "There's no point in saying 'dead meat', 'meat' would do just fine. Once something is classified as 'meat' it rarely ever comes back." Akito said trying to lighten the mood a little.

          "There's a pork chop in the freezer I'm optimistic about," Finn said. "He's a fighter." There was a collective sweatdrop. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm heading back to sleep," He said with a yawn. "G'night all."

          "Its 11:30 in the morning." Hikaru pointed out.

          "Good morning then. I don't know, see ya," Finn began to walk out of the room, but stopped when he was right beside Akatsuki. "I know about you," he said quietly, just loud enough from Akatsuki to hear, then walked out of the room, the echo from his footsteps could faintly be heard as we went down the hallway. Akatsuki stood still, his eyes open a little wider than normal.

          "Yo, you alright?" Ryoko asked.

          "I'm fine," Akatsuki said, regaining his composure. 

          A while later, Akatsuki found Erina in the dark room again, sitting at her computer terminal.

          "Have you found anything yet?" He asked.

          "Nothing yet. All I have are records from after he joined the ship, and even those are pretty vague. Whoever this guy is…" Erina trailed off.

          "We know nothing about him," Akatsuki finished. 

          "The only mention of his name prior to him joining the Nadesico is in a brief report about a Project Starlight." Erina said. "Do you know anything about that?"

          "Project Starlight? All I know about that is that my father started that project, but I thought it had been scrapped years go." Akatsuki answered.

          "The plot thickens," Erina said.

**Battle For the Moon**

          The Nadesico arrived at the Nergal facility about two hours later, or two hours, three minutes, and fifty-two seconds, according to Inez's watch. When the ship had landed, ammunition, food, another supplies were loaded. 

          "What's that thing?" Hikaru asked from the bridge's starboard side window.

          "What's what?" Finn asked, coming over from his seat to investigate.

          "That thing." Hikaru pointed again. What she was pointing at puzzled Finn. It was obviously another Nadesico class ship, still under construction. 

Opposite of it, on the other side of the underground hangar there was a large section still to be attached.

          "Hey, Mr. Prospector," Finn called across the bridge to Prospector, who looked up from the papers he was going through. "Can you come over here for a minute? I want to ask you something." Prospector got up and joined them by the window.

          "Yes? What would you like to know? I'm in a bit of a hurry here so I'd appreciate it if we kept this brief," Prospector said, still shuffling through some documents in his hands.

          "What is that?" Hikaru asked, pointing out to the unfinished ship. "It looks like the Nadesico."

          "It's another PT core ship, right?" added Finn. 

          "Yes," Prospector answered, and looked around. 

          "What is it?" asked Finn, following Prospector's gaze around the bridge.

          "Oh nothing, just making sure the Admiral was still absent. You see, that ship isn't supposed to exist. That is Nadesico class vessel number four, the Shakuyaku. Nergal has been building her secretly as part of our plans to return to Mars. We don't want the UF to know about her just yet," Prospector explained.

          "That's correct," came a voice from behind them. It was Mr. Yuy, Nergal's lunar supervisor. "It's design is many times more powerful than that of the Nadesico, and will be equipped with four phase transition engines. Two will be build into the ship's primary structure, and the other two are housed in the Y unit."

          "The Y unit?" Hikaru asked, puzzled.

          "Yes, the Y unit. Its that section of the ship other there," Yuy said, gesturing towards the large section still to be attached. "The main structure is nearing completion, and the Y unit will be attached later on."

          "I see," Finn said, gazing out the window. "Just one more question."

          "Go on," Yuy said.

          "Just why are you telling us this? I thought Nergal liked to keep people in the dark."

          "Well, since you've already seen the ship with your own two eyes, we might as well explain a few things. Besides, now that you know this is supposed to be a secret, you will know to keep this information to yourselves. Is that clear?" Yuy asked.

          "Yes sir," Finn and Hikaru replied in dull unison. 

          "Any staff that sees the Shakuyaku is being informed that what they see here is classified," explained Yuy.

          "Nergal being somewhat honest for once. You're slipping there,"

          "Yes. Very amusing," Prospector said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to deliver more documents to the Admiral before finishes the last stack I gave him." And he left, picking up a very thick binder from his seat as we left. 

          Finn was awakened by a loud boom. He opened his eyes and stared sleepily at the dark ceiling of his room.

          'Three…two…one…' He counted backwards in his head. 'And…now.'

          "Attention all combat personnel," Megumi's voice sounded throughout the ship.

          'Right on time,' Finn laughed to himself.

          "We have a priority one emergency. All pilots report to the hangar immediately." Megumi announced. Finn groaned and got out of bed, still in his uniform. He quickly got into his piloting suit and ran down to the hangar. He found Ryoko and her squad already down there. However, Akito and Akatsuki were nowhere to be seen.

          "Where are the other two?" Finn asked as he run up to them.

          "Tenkawa and Akatsuki are launching out of the colony hangar in lunar surface frames. There are only two so the rest of you will be in zero-g frames," Seiya explained. "Now get moving!" The pilots made their way to their aesti's, and Finn climbed into the ACF frame.

          'The other one's too small to handle those giant goliath units,' he thought as he brought all the systems online. Within seconds, they were catapulted up to the surface, where Akito and Akatsuki were already engaging enemy units. 

There were several small cruisers launching grasshoppers. However, what caught Finn's attention was the goliath a little way off. It seemed to be watching the battle. Akito started to make his way over there, but Finn stopped him.

          "You take some grasshoppers, pal. I've got a personal score to settle with this monster," Finn said, clenching his fists.

          "You sure?" Akito asked, remembering how the goliath had totally overpowered the smaller MAF frame. 

          "Very sure," replied Finn as he charged towards the goliath. The goliath struck first, firing a gravity blast at Finn, who rolled to the side and dodged the blast. "You'll have to do better than that!" he yelled as he punched the goliath in the chest, or at least, would have if he had been able to get through its distortion field. The goliath slashed at Finn with its claws, and shattered his distortion field. Backing up a few steps, Finn then dove at his opponent, tackling it and bringing them both to the ground. The sudden shock from hitting the ground caused the goliath's distortion field to weaken momentarily. Capitalizing on this split second of weakness, Finn thrust his frame's hands into the field and ripped through it as though it were paper.

          "I swear you'll pay for that, Earth scum!" A vidwindow appeared in Finn's cockpit.

          "So you must be this Sanoske guy, eh? Nice to meet you. Too bad you won't be around long enough for me to enjoy your company!" Finn grabbed the goliath by the arm and started to swing the machine around and around in circles, before finally letting go, sending it flying into a solid rock wall and sending an avalanche of rocks down on it. Itappeared to be buried under a pile of moon rocks. However, it was difficult to be sure with all the dust floating around. "Did I get him?" He was answered by a blast of energy exploding from the pile of fallen boulders. 

          "Not quite!" Sanoske as he ran at Finn. They locked hands, trying to force each other to the ground. Both robots seemed to be equally matched in power.

          "Not bad," Finn grunted as he pushed forward. "At least this time I have enough brute strength to fight back."

          "This time? Oh, so you must be the pilot of that other micro mini meatball of a robot I defeated the other day," Sanoske said. "This time I'll have to finish the job."

          "Defeat nuts. That was just round one," Finn said as he twisted around, grasping his enemy's arm and threw him over his shoulder. He then tried to punch the robot's head, but Sanoske rolled away and Finn's robotic fist hit nothing but rock. "Slippery little bugger," he said to himself as he swung his leg around, trying to land a kick. Sanoske caught it, threw Finn to the ground, and pinned him.

          "You put up a good fight, my friend. But playtime's over," Sanoske said, sounding out of breath. The mouth on the goliath's chest opened, and Finn could see the gravitron waves charging. 

          'Only have one chance at this,' Finn thought, bringing his shoulder cannon online and set it to fire a single beam, instead of hundreds of small ones.

          "Die!" Sanoske yelled as the fired the gravity blast. Finn fired his blast and intercepted the wave of gravitron energy in the few meters between the two robots, sending the blast wave flying out in every direction. Finn took a few small hits, as did Sanoske, but they inflicted minor damage. Then, the goliath disappeared.

          "What the hell?" Finn cried. "Where'd he go?"

          "Right here!" Sanoske said as he grabbed Finn's frame from behind. "You're like a roach. No matter how many times I step on you, you still manage to keep on crawling,"

          "Life's funny that way," Finn grunted. He could feel his frame slowly being crushed and Sanoske squeezed

          "Any last words?" Sanoske asked, more in cruel humour than an actual question.

          "None you'd wanna hear." Finn said as he brought his rear engines online and fired them. The intense heat partially melted the goliath's chest armor. Sanoske's grip loosened just enough for Finn to break free. He spun around and landed a solid punch in the goliath face. The goliath stumbled back a fell backwards onto the ground. Finn heard what seemed to be a girl scream. He shook it off and stepped on the goliath's chest, and aimed his shoulder cannon at its face.

          "You…you won't get away with this," A girl said. Finn looked at the window. Sanoske's hair fell down his shoulders, and his voice seemed to be rather…feminine.

          "That the hell?" Finn asked. "You…you're a girl?"

          "So, you figured it out, hmm? No matter, just get this over with," the girl, who called herself Sanoske said. Finn hesitated.

          "What are you waiting for?!" Ryoko screamed at him. "Destroy it!" Finn bit his lower lip.

          "I…I can't," he said quietly. "I can't do it."

          "What?" Ryoko asked baffled. "Why not?"

          "I don't know…" Finn hesitated.

          "If he won't do it, I will." Akatsuki said, landing beside the fallen goliath.

          "No, don't," Finn protested. "Its not right."

          "What are you talking about? Why not?" Akatsuki demanded.

          "I don't know. He's…she's female." Finn replied.

          "That Jovian's about as female as a piston!" Ryoko yelled at him.

          "This is war, Saotome. There is no place for softhearted sentimental mush here," Akatsuki said, resting the tip of his rifle on the goliath's head. "Goodbye, Jovian."

          "No!" Finn knocked the rifle away just before Akatsumi fired.

          "What the hell are you doing?!" Akatuski shouted.

          "You're compassion will be your downfall," Sanoske said as and used the distraction to knock Finn and Akatsuki away. Before either of them could react, boson jumped away.

          "Aren't you going after her?" Akatuski asked angrily.

          "Why bother?" Finn replied.

          "All pilots, return to the Nadesico, they Jovian forces are bugging out," came Megumi's voice. Just then, the Nadesico burst out of the underground hangar, or at least, what looked like the Nadesico. 

          "What's going on here? What happened to the ship?" Finn asked confused.

          "The Shakuyaku was crushed when a section of the hangar collapsed. We have attached the Y unit to the Nadesico since its such a shame to leave it right here," Yurkia said. "Anyway, you'd better make your way back to the ship." 

          "What the hell were you thinking?" Akatsuki shouted at Finn, once they were both out of their frames and on the hangar floor.

          "Hey look, I didn't join the Nadesico so I could kill women. Killing men is bad enough, I don't need the deaths of women leaning on my conscience on top of that," Finn replied.

          "Look, I don't care how you feel. This is war! Got it? We destroy who and what our captain tells us to destroy. There's no place for compassion here. Its survival of the fittest, kill or be killed," Akatsuki went on.

          "I joined the Nadesico under the impression that I was fighting an alien force bent on destroying humanity. I believed that our cause was noble. I could have always flown to Earth and chosen not fight, but I'm here. I'll continue fighting, but if you expect me to sacrifice my moral beliefs just so you can add another kill to the Nadesico's combat record, you are sadly mistaken, my friend," Finn said.

          "Well, I can see there's no talking sense into you. I guess I'll just have to let the Captain chew you out, maybe then you'll see reason." Akatsuki said and walked away. "Moral beliefs have been the alkalis heal of all great men,"

          "We'll see," Finn replied, and made his way to the bridge, thinking about what the girl who called herself Sanoske had said before she boson jumped " 'Your compassion will be your downfall.' " he smirked. "Man, that sounds like something out of Gekigengar."

          When he arrived at the bridge, Finn put on a determined face.

          "Lieutenant, you have some explaining to do," Yurika stated.

          'Oohh boy, here it comes,' thought Finn. "Yes, Captain? What is it?"

          "In my ready room. Now," she answered and walked into small, office like room just outside the bridge. Finn made some kind of gulp-like noise and followed her. As he walked by Akatuski, he saw him grinning in an I-told-you-so fashion. It was tempting for Finn to 'accidentally' step on his foot, but decided not to make any more trouble for himself. 

          "Dead man walking," Akatsuki said just loud enough for the bridge to hear, but not Yurika.

          "Yes, Captain? What did you want to speak to me about?" asked Finn. 

          "Saotome, I realize that you are a man with certain moral principals," Yurika began. "Is that correct?"

"Yes, Captain." Finn answered.

"You don't like to hurt other people and try to avoid causing pain if at all possible. So, bearing that in mind. Allow me to ask you just one question."

"What's that, Captain?"

"Do you think Akito would like me better if I wore a black kimono or a green on?" she answered, holding up two kimonos. Finn facefaulted, hitting his face on a corner of the desk on his way down to the floor.

"You mean that's what you wanted to ask me?" Finn was laughing hysterically. From on the bridge, the crew could hear Finn, but interpreted it as screaming.

"Poor guy," Hikaru said.

"She must really be pissed," Ryoko added.         

"Either that or she's giving him the best…" Izumi began. However, she was soon laying unconscious on the floor, thanks to a quick whack in the head by Ryoko. 

"Thanks Ryoko. I wanted to keep this fic at least somewhat clean," the author said.

"No problem," Ryoko made a V.

Meanwhile, in the Captain's ready room.

"What's so funny?" Yurika asked, sounding puzzled.

"Its just that," Finn began, picking himself up off the floor. His left eye was beginning to swell because of its impact on the desk, but Finn was still laughing a little and didn't feel it. "I thought you were going to ask me why I didn't finish off that Jovian robot earlier." 

"That? Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I heard what you said in the hangar because your communicator was on. Didn't you know that?" Yurika replied.

"Nu uh."

"Don't worry about it. I agree with you. Taking another's life should only be done if there's no other path to follow. I'll have to talk to Mr. Akatsuki about that. But setting that aside, which one do you think Akito would like better? I need an unbiased opinion here, that is, unless you have something for me as well," she asked, taking a sexy pose. 

"No, nothing like that Captain." Finn sweatdropped. 

"Then which one?" Yurika pressed. 

"Uhhh…the black one." Finn said, still finding it difficult to believe what was happening here.

"Are you sure?" Yurika asked, looking at the black kimono. 

"You wanted an unbiased opinion. I think the black one would look better," Finn replied.

"Oh, ok. Thank you, Lieutenant," Yurika said and sat down, looking over the kimonos.

"Is that all?" Finn asked after standing there for a few minutes in silence.

"What? Oh, that's all. You're dismissed," Yurika replied.

Finn thanked her and left the ready room, and as he returned to the bridge, most of the crew gawked at his black eye.

"It was that bad, was it?" Akito said.

"What? Oh, this?" he said, feeling the swollen part of his face. "Uh…yeah. She really taught me a lesson. You bet!" Finn tried to go along with it.

"Are you ok?" Ryoko asked Finn as they walked down a corridor with Hikaru and Izumi.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it," Finn replied. 

"That's good," Ryoko said as they stopped at a door.

"Anyway, this is my room. See ya," Finn disappeared into the room. As the door closed, the teasing began.

"Oh my precious Saotome, is thou hurt?" Izumi teased.

"What? What are you guys talking about?!" Ryoko turned red.

"Oh come on Ryoko, we all know what you want," Hikaru said.

"And where you want it," Izumi added. Ryoko was now very red. 

"It's…it's not like that!" Ryoko defended herself. 

"Oh Finn. Let me nurse you back to health with my womanly touch," Izumi said.

A few minutes later Ryoko was seen walking down the hall. Behind her, two people could be seen with legs hanging out of garbage cans.

**In a Tear, a Girl's Past**

          "Look Daddy, I see the first star!" a little girl sitting on her father's shoulders said excitedly, pointing at the darkening sky.

          "Very good Ryoko. Now I want you to find that special star that shines inside yourself." They were standing just outside an open hangar in an air base. Jets were being wheeled in and out of the hangar, and as the sky darkened, lights began to turn on. Across several landing strips, there was a large building that served as a main control centre, as well as a tower, with blinking red lights on top. 

          "My special star?" Ryoko asked.

          "Yes. Your special star, something that you, and only you, can do," her father answered.

          "My special star," Ryoko said to herself. They stood there looking as the stars came into view one by one. 

          "Come on hun, lets go see Mommy," he said and he began walking towards a large building on the other side of the airstrip. All around them jets were landing and taking off. No matter how hard she covered her ears, Ryoko could not block out the tremendous roar of the engines. Finally, they made it to the control centre and the noise subsided. Her father put her down in a chair and walked over to a desk, and talked to a few people. After a few minutes, the man her father was talking too handed him a binder that was thick with papers, as well as a phone. He took the binder and held it under his arm while he dialed. After a few minutes, he came back and took Ryoko's hand. "Mommy's not home right now, she might have gone out to grab a few things," he said and ruffled the hair on his daughter's head. "Ok hun, lets go," And they walked outside into the parking lot. The warm desert air was cooling rapidly now that the sun had gone down. Ryoko was shivering by the time they got to the car. 

          "I can't wait to get out of here," her father said, more too himself than Ryoko, as they drove down the side streets of a residential area. "This neighbourhood is no place to have a family." Outside the streets were littered with garbage, a few drunk men stumbled down the sidewalks carrying bottles in paper bags, and every few seconds a siren from would sound. "The Earth is not the future. It's so dirty and crowded. The stars are where the future is."

          "Up there?" Ryoko asked pointing at the sky.

          "Yes hun. That's where we're going. Tomorrow we're going to the stars," he said. They pulled into their drive way and the car stopped. However, there was a second car sitting beside them. "That's strange. Maybe she just got back." They got out and walked up the front steps. The door was open. 

          "Mommy?" Ryoko asked.

          "Kasumi? We're back!" He called out, closing the door. "Hello?" He quickened his pace and began to search the rooms. He disappeared up the stairs and Ryoko slowely followed him. She found him in the his bedroom, he was kneeling over something.

          "Daddy?" she asked timidly. "Where's Mommy?" She looked around the room. All the drawers had been ripped out and rooted through, there was an empty jewelry box on the floor, and the window leading had been smashed. Ryoko walked slowly into the room and saw her mother laying on the floor, a red substance covered her upper body, she was also not moving. "Is Mommy sleeping?" Her father looked at her, clutching his wife's hand.

          "Yes Ryoko. She's sleeping," he said, his eyes filled with tears. He let go of the limp hand and picked up Ryoko, hugging her tight. "But she won't wake up." Ryoko looked at her mother's body as she was carried from the room too her own. 

          Ryoko hugged her bag as she stepped off the shuttle and into the military hangar on the L2 Colony. She glanced around nervously. Beside her were other cadets that had passed the first stages of training on Earth. Now they were going to be trained in space for zero-g combat. All the cadets stood in a line facing a short, but very rough looking man.

          "Listen up!" he shouted. "You have all passed land and air combat training, and will now be trained in zero-g combat. I am Commander. Never mind what my name is, all you need to know is that I am Commander and I run this place. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

          "Sir, no, sir!" they all said together. The Commander walked from one end of the line to the other, looking over this new victims. He stopped at Ryoko.

          "Name," He demanded.

          "Me?" Ryoko said, looking to either side of her.

          "Yes you. Name. Now!" he shouted. Ryoko tensed. 

          "Ryoko Subaru," she said quietly.

          "What? I can't hear you?" he demanded, sounding irritated. 

          "Sir, Cadet Ryoko Subaru. Sir!" she said as confidently as she could, however there was a slight tremble in her voice.

          "That's better. That is how you properly introduce yourself to a commanding officer. Now, drop and give me twenty for making me ask twice," he said. "Come on, now!" Ryoko dropped to the floor and began her pushups. "Faster!" 

          "Sir, yes, sir!" she said, biting her lip and focusing on the task at hand. 'This is so humiliating,' she thought. 'Everyone is watching me. I should just give up now and spare myself this kind of humiliation.' Then she remembered her father's words to her as she boarded the shuttle. Most able bodies were already recruited by the UF for some reason that was not known. But everyone assumed it wasn't good and considered joining the UF pretty much a death sentence if you looked at the death rate among pilots. So an opportunity to join Nergal was not an opportunity you passed up. Ryoko considered herself lucky to accepted.

          "Make me proud," her father's voice sounded in her head. She finished and stood up.

          "Feeling tired?" the Commander asked.

          "Sir, no, sir!" Ryoko shouted.

          "That's better. You're all dismissed. Training starts in one hour, so don't doddle." he said and walked away. Ryoko picked up her bag and followed the crowed. In the hallway there was a large bulletin board with names and room numbers. She searched the list for her name, and founding near the bottom the list. 

          'Room 252.' She thought. There were two other names up there. Maki Izumi and Amano Hikaru. Ryoko gulped. The name Maki sounded familiar. Ryoko searched her memory for anything on his Maki person. The hallway fell silent and people moved back, creating a pathway down the hall. Ryoko looked away from the board to see what was going on. There was a woman coming down the hall. She was very pale, had dark hair over half of her face, and was wearing a pilot's uniform and some kind of odd hat. She seemed to have this very eerie aura around her, Ryoko tried to shrink back and disappear into the walls with the rest of the novices, but found herself fascinated by this person, but in a frightening way.  The woman stopped at the board and looked at it, then she looked at Ryoko.

          "You must be Ryoko. I'm the cat in the hat," she said, and began laughing. Ryoko suddenly remembered something. 

          'Miss Death Maki,' Ryoko thought. "Excuse me," she said, interrupting the woman's hysterical laughter. "You must be Death…I mean Izumi Maki, is that right?"

          "That's right."

          "I'm Ryoko Subaru, it says we'll be sharing quarters along with someone named Hikaru Amano," She bowed a little. "Pleased to meet you,"

          "Thrilled to meet you too. I can't contain myself." Izumi said in her dead tone of voice. Ryoko couldn't tell whether Izumi was being sarcastic or just plain insane. While they had been talking, another girl, with reddish brown hair and glasses had shown up by the bulletin board without them noticing. She looked over and saw Ryoko's name tag hanging off her bag.  

          "Hello! My name's Hikaru Amano and I'll be staying I room 252 just like you are! I make tea, my blood type is B, and my favourite foods are pizza crusts and salty rice crackers. It's so nice to be working with you! I've heard so much about you," the somewhat hyper Hikaru burst.

          "You have?" Ryoko asked. She didn't consider herself as a pilot that people talked about.

          "Of course! I'm your biggest fan. The way you aced the land combat live fire exercise with only a 5% miss ratio is amazing! Its such an honour to be working with such a great pilot!" Hikaru blew her little whistle a few times.

          "She's been into the crack. She'll be fine," Izumi snorted and started laughing again. Ryoko sweatdropped.

          "And to think I gave up a UF public relations job for this," she muttered and went in search of her designated room. Hikaru followed and kept on gushing praise. Izumi trailed behind. Whenever someone saw Izumi come into view, they would get out of the way. The trio found their quarters. Izumi looked like she had been living there for a few months already. The pictures and letters pinned to the wall by the bottom bunk were a dead giveaway. There was already a small bag, like Ryoko's, sitting on the top bunk, which she assumed to belong to Hikaru. She dropped her bag on the bunk bolted to the adjacent wall and packed what few things she had into the drawers built into the lower half of the bed. "Here we go," she said, and changed into her pilot suit.

          Ryoko checked her systems and brought the main power grid online. Her aestivalis hummed and came to life. Today was the day. The Nadesico would be arriving shortly to take on supplies, and a few new pilots. Ryoko didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to be chosen as one of the pilots to join the Nadesico along with undead Izumi and the overly excited Hikaru. One the one hand, it offered an escape away from the dull L2 Colony, and on the other, the ship already had a nasty reputation for getting itself into trouble. But all in all, Ryoko was glad to finally be getting away from the Commander. He had pretty much destroyed the sensitive little girl Ryoko used to be and turned her into, what he called, a 'true soldier'. 

          "A soldier cannot act on his emotions." She remembered him saying a long time ago. "You have to act without thinking. If you don't kill the enemy, the enemy will kill you first. Understood?"

          "Sir, yes, sir!" the line of pilots in training sounded Of course, at the time none of them even knew who 'the enemy' was, and no one ever suspected it might be an alien force from Jupiter. If you even asked such a question before the war, you probably would have been considered some crazy lunatic and locked up.

          'But that's what really happened.' Ryoko thought. She attached a large case containing things she had gathered over her years of living on L2 and attached it to a tow cable in the aesti's back. There was still an hour or two to kill before the Nadesico arrived, and Ryoko had already completed her pre-flight checklists, so she sat back in the cool, air conditioned cockpit and closed her eyes. The hangar was noisy outside, but only a few muffled sounds penetrated the frame. She let her mind wander. First to what life on the Nadesico would be like, then to what she had been doing yesterday, and then further back. She remembered a day a year and a half ago. It was by no means a happy memory. It was a routine exercise of evasive manoeuvres. They had to dodge space mines containing a small charges, the reason for this being to make the pilots take the exercise seriously. It was a pretty simple drill, one that all pilots had completed many times without running into any trouble. The most damage any ships had sustained were minor dents and scratches. However, that day was not to be a simple exercise. 

          "You know the drill Subaru, you too Tendo. Just don't get hit by any mines," the Commander said. He was strangely calm today.

          'Must be from lack of sleep.' Ryoko thought. The past week had been a live fire exercise, so they all were working on about two hours sleep, even the maintenance crew were sluggish. Ryoko and Tendo, her partner for this exercise, entered the minefield, and began their manoeuvres. The mines would target one ship and release compressed gas and shoot across the sky towards them. Ryoko gracefully weaved this way and that, dodging mines as they went by. 

          "You have one above you, Tendo. Watch it," Ryoko called.

          "Thanks. I see it," Tendo called back and made a quick turn to the starboard. "Uh oh." Ryoko heard. She looked over to see what was going on. Tendo had gone further into a densely packed area of the minefield. Mines began coming at her.

          "I'm coming," Ryoko said, bringing her weapons systems online with the intent of clearing a section of the minefield.

          "Negative, Subaru," the Commander said. "This is evasive manoeuvres not target practice." Ryoko powered down her systems and continued the exercise, but kept an eye on her partner.

          "Two more above you and three behind you," Ryoko informed Tendo. "You might want to get out of there.

          "I'm trying!" Tendo shouted back. "They're all around me."

          "I'm coming," Ryoko said and steered her fighter deeper into the minefield to serve as a distraction. However, it was getting hopeless. About twenty or so mines were already following Tendo, along with several more heading straight for her. Ryoko laughed. "I think you're screwed there."

          "Yeah, I think so. But I'm not giving up." Tendo replied. And made another sharp turn, loosing a few mines behind her. Ryoko flew a few loops around Tendo's ship before breaking off, distracting a few mines from Tendo, and boosting her thrust and pulling out.

          "Look out, there's one right in front of you." Said Ryoko.

          "Huh? Ohh shit." Tendo said as the mine smashed into her ship. 

          "Looks like I win this one," Ryoko laughed. "What the hell?!" She stared in horror at the sight before her. A giant blast erupted from Tendo's ship. 

"You ok?" Ryoko called. 

"I think so," Tendo called back. Just then, the sky exploded in a giant flash of light. Ryoko stared in horror as the mines surrounding Tendo's ship blew, trapping her inside a raging inferno. The shockwave from the blast nearly ripped Ryoko's ship apart.

"Tendo? Tendo? Answer me, damnit!" Ryoko screamed into her

radio. She received nothing but static. She kept trying to get through, but received no response. When the flames finally subsided, Ryoko could see the full extent of the damage. Both wings of the ship had been torn apart, the rear of the ship had melted under the heat, and pieces were falling off left, right, and centre. 

          "Subaru. Get Tendo's ship and bring it inside!" the Commander ordered. Ryoko fired a magnetic tow cable into Tendo's crippled fighter and flew it inside the hangar. Maintenance crews were standing by, and as soon as the ship hit the hangar floor, they began to rip the cockpit open. Most of the glass had melted under intense heat of the explosion. When they finally ripped the hatch open, Ryoko shoved her way through the crowd. She shoved the workers out of the way and looked inside the broken ship. The glass in Tendo's mask was cracked, and a small hole could be seen in the side of the helmet. Ryoko undid Tendo's restraints and shook her.

          "Come on, Tendo! Speak to me! Please!" Ryoko shook Tendo, but without luck. The body was limp, the head hanging to one side. Someone finally managed to pull Ryoko off Tendo and restrained her as they carried the body away.

          Ryoko shook her head, trying to force the memory out of her mind. 'That was a long time ago,' she thought, and looked around her. Most of the hangar personnel were on their lunch break, so it was pretty quiet. Ryoko sat back. However, something was wrong. The colony began to shake. Pieces of the roof fell to the floor and fire exploded just outside the hangar doors. She looked around, and it became apparent that she was the only pilot there. Looking around, she quickly closed her case that, for some reason, had been opened, and grabbed another tow cable and attached it to three of the remaining zero-g space frames and dragged them towards the door. There she waited for a few minutes, to see if any of her fellow pilots would show up. However, when grasshoppers began blasting their way through the hangar doors, she decided that she would have to go out alone. A small compartment on the aestivalis' leg opened, and a large suction mine became visible. Ryoko grabbed it, attached it to the doors, and stood back as it blew them open, taking a few grasshoppers along with it. She hit the throttle and headed for the blip on her scanner screens that she took to be the Nadesico.

…To be continued in Act 3

                             **End of Act 2**


	3. Enter the Pilot: Act 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

-by CdnShockwave

**Act 3**

**Into the Frey**

          "As you know, there are now well over 3000 chulips scattered across the surface of the Earth, and this number is growing all the time," the Admiral stated. "Our new orders are to help establish a chulip interception post at point 08, where most of them enter Earth space. We are to protect the construction sight and prevent any more chulips from reaching Earth in operational condition."

          "So we're on guard duty then?" asked Akito.

          "That's correct. I know this mission is not quite as grand as your attempt to rescue the Martian settlers, or your little jaunt to the moon, but I think you'll all agree that preventing any more chulips from arriving on Earth is important," the Admiral answered. "Once the interception station is completed, we will be conducting a chulip annihilation operation to prevent the enemy from gaining any more ground than they already have. I think that's a simple enough plan for you people to follow."

          "We'll arrive at the construction site in a few hours. You're all dismissed until then," Yurika said.

          "You're probably happy about this assignment," Akatsuki aimed his statement at Finn as he and the other pilots exited the bridge.

          "Whys that?" Finn asked, already knowing what the cocky pilot's answer would be.

          "You won't have to kill anyone, should we end up engaging the enemy. A few chulips, a few grasshoppers, maybe some light cruisers. Its just the kind of mission _you_ like," Akatsuki said, a smug look on his face. Finn stopped and 'accidentally' stuck his foot out in front of Akatsuki's feet.

          "Woah!" Akatsuki landed face first on the cold, metal floor. A slight thud reverberated throughout the halls.

          "Sorry about that, friend," Finn grinned and continued on his way.

          Later on, Finn was passing by Akito's door when he heard something like a shout.

          "Yo, Tenkawa, you alright?" he called, knocking on the door. Akito appeared a few moments later.

          "I've done _it_!" he cried happily.

          "Eh, that's not the word on the street,"

          "Wha?" Akito looked confused.

          "Think about it," Finn replied. "So just what have you done that you're so excited about?" 

          "Oh, right! It's this! I've finally completed it!" Akito thrust a small, plastic model in front of Finn's face. 

          "What is it?" Finn asked, looking at the object in question.

          "It's a 1/100 scale perfect grade Dragon Gekigengar model! I've been working on it for months! And I've finally completed it." Akito hugged the model. "It has all the weapons that they use in the show, plus the unused dragon flame cannon. Also, the shoulder, knee, and hip joints are all dicast metal, and there's a little battery powered voice chip in the back." Akito pressed a small button on the model's back.

          "Dragon flame attack!" the little model said. "Hyper Passion Slash! Lets Gekiga in!"

          "Fascinating," said Finn, trying to sound somewhat amused by the toy. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

          "What's that?" Akito asked.

          "Well, don't take this the wrong way. I mean, it's cool that you have a hobby. But…um…don't you think you're getting a little carried away here? I mean, it's just a cartoon."

          "Guh…" Akito seemed to take offence to this remark. "You're just like the rest of them." 

          "Hey, I'm not saying you're an idiot or anything for liking it. I'm just curious to know what you find so fascinating about it. That's all. No sarcasm intended," Finn added quickly. 

          "Alright, I'll tell you what happened." Akito motioned for Finn to come inside. They sat down in front of the screen. An episode of Gekigengar was playing, but Akito had set it to mute. "See that picture over there?" Akito motioned to the picture of Gai he had sitting on the small table. 

          "Yeah, that's Yamada," Finn said. "I heard one of the UF officers shot him just after the Nadesico broke through the big barrier."

          "Jiro Yamada was technically his name. But Gai Digoji was his true name. He said that the name Jiro Yamada belonged to his body, but Gai Digoji was the name that belonged to his soul. At first I thought he was just an anime-crazed nutcase, but he was more than that. Sure I thought this was silly at first, who wouldn't? I mean, we're talking about a cartoon that's intended for little kids. But you have to look deeper. You have to look beyond the corny writing and cheap animation. Beneath all the childish animation, the cheap voice acting, the drive to sell toys, there's a message," Akito explained.

          "What just what is that message?"

          "It may seem corny, but the basic message they send through Gekigengar is that the good guys always win. We're the good guys, so in the end we'll always come out on top, no matter what situation we find ourselves in," Akito said, a very serious expression on his face. Finn waited a few moments before deciding to burst Akito's little bubble.

          "Ahh, but how do you know that?" Finn asked. "How do you know that we're the good guys? The Jovains probably think they're the good guys in this thing as well. They must have their reasons for fighting, they've got to. I don't think they'd wage war on the Earth just because they were bored. We may both think we're on the good side of all this, but if you think about it every side believes that they're cause is just. Just look at how things started out. We all knew for certain that we were the good guys in this because we thought we were fighting to save the human race from total destruction. We believed we were saving the human race and look what happened. I'm not saying the theme of Gekigengar is wrong. It's just that you have to look at something like this from every angle. Sometimes looks an be deceiving."

          "So you're saying we're not the good guys in this. Is that what you're saying? That we're the monsters? That we're the ones killing innocent people?" Akito asked, sounding a tad angry. "How can you even think that? After what those monsters have done."

          "Calm down there, friend," Finn said calmly. " All I'm saying is that neither side's cause is completely right. From my perspective, it seems like the Jovians are more to blame for this war. But think about this. What did we do to make them so angry at us? I don't know why, but they must be attacking us for some reason," Finn replied coolly. "But I think we're straying from the main point of this conversation." He said after a while of sitting in silence. "Is that the only reason you like Gekigengar?"

          "No, it's not just that. Its also…" Akito trailed off.

          "Its just…what?" Finn pressed.

          "Its also a way for me to keep Gai alive. I can't just let his memory fade away into the background. I have to keep the part of Gai that loved the Earth and this show alive. Isn't that right Gai?" Akito asked his diecast metal Gekigengar toy.

          'Cool. I broke his brain,' Finn thought. "Uh…dude, you're scaring me." He sweatdropped.

          The following days were pretty much what everyone expected them to be. When they arrived at their destination, construction was already underway. The crew had little to do except wait for Jovians to come too close to the station, and so far they had only exchanged fire three times. So all in all, things were pretty quiet.

          "Oh I'm so bored its true. Nothing to do 'cept sit here and think of you," Finn sang in the cafeteria. Around him was a sorry sight for the elite pilot force of the greatest battleship in the Earth's forces. Akito and Akatsuki were arguing about anime. They were being quiet for once, for they had many of these little 'chats' and most of them involved at least a raised voice or two, let alone a few chairs being thrown. But for once it actually looked like they were discussing something like normal human beings. Hikaru was drawing some manga while standing on her head, her face turning a slight shade of purple. "Are you sure it's a good idea to be like that for long periods of time?" he asked. Hikaru tipped over and fell on the floor. She quickly got up and dusted herself off.

          "I'm fine…woah….I dizzy," she said and fell into a chair. Finn sweatdropped and looked in Izumi's direction. She was sitting very still and almost looked asleep. If it weren't for the fact that here eyes were open, Finn would have said she was off in some dream. She didn't seem phased by anything that was going on around them.

          "So what has the Nadesico's strangest…I mean…most…um…unique pilot been up to lately?" he asked, directing the question in Izumi's direction. He got no response. "Ah, the strong silent type. I see. What do you think of this assignment so far?" Finn asked, desperate to start some kind of conversation instead of just sitting there listening to the florescent lights overhead buzz. "Hello?" Finn waved a hand in front of Izumi's face. "Hmm…how peculiar. It would appear that…she's on a crack high?" Finn asked himself and poked Izumi. Izumi finally responded and wrapped her arms around him, drawing him into a close embrace. "Um…excuse me…" However he was cut off as Izumi's lips came within millimeters of his. He could feel her soft breath, and became paralyzed. However, before Izumi could kiss him, Finn found his face getting to know Ryoko's elbow a little better, and was soon one with the floor. "Oh, what have we here. Jealous Ryoko?" Finn asked before the pain of leaving an imprint of himself on a thick stainless steel floor set in. "Owie," he squeaked.

          "I hate to burst your bubble. But she's sleeping with her eyes open, she always does this, you moron," Ryoko said trying to sound angry. However, her cheeks showed were a slight shade of red. "So don't go thinking she was throwing herself at you. What woman would want to kiss you, of all people?" 

          'Here face says no but her heart says yes. What a wonderful, wonderful place to work! This is so educational!" Finn thought to himself. "Ooww," He groaned and pulled himself off the floor and wiped a small bit of blood from his face. Hikaru was giggling in the background. 

          "I hate to break up this moment of pilot bonding," Ruri said sarcastically. "But we have a small force of four chulips approaching. Pilots Suabru, Amano, and Saotome, please report to the hangar immediately. Ryoko, Hikaru, and Finn moved sluggishly due to their boredom, but eventually made it to the hangar.

          "What's the situation?" Finn yawned.

          "We have four chulips coming in from 30 degrees off the port side of the station. Your mission is to intercept and destroy," Yurika ordered. "Understood?" 

          "Yes," the pilots said dully and in unison. To some it sounded kind of creepy. The pilots made their way to their respective robots. Ryoko and Hikaru were going out in their zero-g frames, surprise surprise, and Finn chose to take both of his units out at once. He locked the MAF into the ACF and waited for launch orders.

          "I hope we actually get a challenge here for once. All we've been doing for days is launch, shoot, return, launch, shoot, return," Finn yawned again under his helmet. "Launching now." Finn was catapulted out of the hangar and into the cold void of space, followed by Hiikaru and Ryoko. They flew to the maximum range of the Nadesico's energy feed and, to put it simply, waited.

          "Saotome you take the two to the left. Hikaru, take the one on the right. The middle one is mine," Ryoko ordered.

          "Yes Ma'am!" Finn replied, giving a mock salute. "They should be here any second." And right on time, the four chulips appeared. Finn brought his gattling cannon online and prepared to fire. However, before he could shoot, the chulips came to a halt. "What are they doing?"

          "Do you have to ask?" Ryoko shot back as grasshoppers came streaming out of the open chulips. They all began evasive maneuvers, dodging the rain of missiles that came down on them. A few managed to hit, but bounced off their distortion fields. Finn was flipping around, in an almost dancing like fashion, firing his weapons. All around him grasshoppers exploded into brilliant balls of fire. Ryoko and Hikaru were holding their own.

          "Should we call for backup?" Hikaru said, punching a grasshopper into many large pieces of space debris.

          "We can handle this," Ryoko said, blowing a few enemies out of the sky. "We've already got one moron to look after, we don't need two more,"

          "I could use my cannons. But I'd rather save those for an emergency," Finn said to himself.

          "High bose particle readings emitting from chulip 2." Ruri's face appeared. The chulip opened its front wider and two massive mechanical monsters slowly slid out. "Confirmed as phase transition powered goliath units equipped with gravity blast cannons,"

          "Ah, come back for seconds, eh?" Finn bugged out of combat with the grasshoppers and flew straight towards the goliath that had already passed through the chulip. It wasn't the same red and gray unit he had fought on the moon. This one was a deep navy blue and had shorter claws. They looked more like fingers. The second one, still emerging from the chulip, was shorter, but had massive arms that looked capable of smashing through even the toughest of armored plating. 

          "All units, retreat to point 885. The Nadesico's gravity blast cannon is charging," Ruri informed them, and they retreated temporarily from the battle so they would not be caught in the blast wave. 

          "What about the PT cannon? Can't we use that now that we have the Y-unit?" Ryoko asked.

          "Negative. The situation does not require such a weapon" Ruri replied. "Such a large expenditure of energy could temporarily bring some of the Nadesico's systems offline. I also think it would be categorized as, what you people would call, overkill."

          "That's correct. And we still don't know the full strengths and capabilities of the Y-unit or the PT cannon. Until more is known about it, it would be unwise to use it at this point in time," Inez explained. "The standard gravity blast cannon the Nadesico was originally equipped with will be more than sufficient to carry out this operation."

          "Where did you come from?" Ruri asked her, seeing Inez appear on the bridge without anyone noticing.

          "Anyway…" Finn interrupted. "Come on, let's light this candle!"

          "Firing gravity blast," Ruri said as the brilliant beam of light shot through space. Most of the grasshoppers vaporized instantly, but the goliaths and the chulips sustained little damage. "Battle field clear. You may continue fighting. We will launch pilots Tenkawa, Maki, and Akatsuki to assist you,"

          "Roger that," replied Finn, boosting his thrusters to full and charging the blue goliath. "Can you guys take the little one?"

          "We'll hold it off until the cavalry gets here," Ryoko said, taking out her distortion-spear. Hikaru did the same and followed her towards the smaller goliath, which had now fully emerged from the chulip. The blue goliath fired off a gravity blast at Finn, who dodged out of the way and rushed down below, only to fly straight up and land an uppercut on his opponent's head. The goliath whirled around and caught Finn off guard. It slashed its claws across his frame's back. The slash did little structural damage, nothing more than a scratch, but the force of the impact caused some of the internal systems to malfunction. Finn's monitors became slightly grainy and he responded by trying to land a kick along his opponents back, but the goliath caught the flying foot unit with one hand and grabbed Finn's left arm unit with the other, and began to pull in an attempted to tear the ACF in two. Inside his cockpit Finn could hear the groans and screeches of stressed metal as his cockpit began to rip in half. 

          "Damn, they're getting smarter," hw grunted as he tried to get free of the goliath's grip. However, the hold his enemy had on his frame seemed to be too strong for him to simply rip free. Then, something occurred to him. Flipping switches and turning off safeguards, small compartments along the wings opened. Small missiles raised out of the openings. Finn unleashed a barrage of missiles directly into the goliath's chest unit. On its own, one missile did not do much damage. However, they just seemed to stream out of the ACF's wings at an unbelievable rate. The blasts blasted apart some components of the chest plate and shoulder joints. Just enough so that Finn could wrench free. 

          "Well done my slippery adversary," a male voice sounded in Finn's cockpit. "But it shall aid you not."

          "Oh man, you guys gotta come up with some better lines than that!" Finn said, and the two robots locked hands, trying to force one another back. 'Good thing the pilot of that thing's not a girl. I won't have to hold back.' Blasting his thrusters, Finn managed to force his opponent back. 'Wait a sec, there's nothing to push him back against. This is pointless!' He ripped one of his hands away and grabbed onto the goliath's arm and began to spin around, taking it with him.

          "What are you doing?!" the goliath pilot demanded, sounding a little dizzy.

          "This!" Finn responded by hurling the goliath back towards the open chulip. "And this!" He fired his cannon. Bolts of hot plasma punched through the already weakened distortion field. From his cockpit, Finn saw his bolts literally ripping the goliath apart. However, the pilot was still audible over the radio. 'Come on come on. Where's the blasted cockpit in that thing?" Finn thought. The chest of his enemy was ripped to pieces, several holes already going straight through it. 'The head. That's where he is.' However, before Finn could target the head, the force of his plasma bolts had pushed the goliath back through one of the open chulips and disappeared. "Damnit," he said to himself. "Ryoko, how's it going on your end?" Looking over, he could see that Ryoko and Hikaru were holding there own. However, so far they had inflicted little structural damage on the enemy robot. There were a few bullet holes along the shoulders, and a few dents where the impact of missiles had been partially absorbed by its destortion field, allowing only some of the energy to reach the armour. The aestivalis units were flying around the goliath in a fashion that reminded Finn of the old movie King Kong.

          "If you don't mind," Ryoko said irritated. "We could use a little help with this thing."

          "Ahh, the great Ryoko Subaru asking for help," Finn joked. "You guys look like your doing just fine."

          "Just shut up and get over here," Ryoko shot back. However, before Finn made it over to where his comrades were fighting, the red goliath managed to grab Ryoko's aesti out of the sky. She struggled, but couldn't wriggle free of the goliath's grasp.

          "Oh no you don't," Finn smirked as he threw himself into the goliath, knocking it back a little. The shock from the impact caused the goliath to loosen its grip just enough for Ryoko to get free. "I'd love to stay and chat but… man, I'm starting to sound these damn Jovians. Ha ha ha, silly me." Before it could straighten itself out, Finn grabbed his enemy by the arm and threw it over his shoulder and into the open chulip. On its way through, he saw a something bounce off one of its arms and fly off towards another open chulip. Finn then fired bolts into the side of the chulip, causing its distortion field to buckle, then simply ripped it apart into space debris. However, just as the chulip exploded, Finn glanced over and saw that Ryoko was not with Hikaru at the attack point. He searched around, but couldn't find her anywhere. "Ryoko! Where are you?" he called out, unable to hide the concern in this voice.

          "Over here you moron!" Ryoko called. A blip on Finn's scanner screens reviled her exact location. What Finn saw made his heart stop for a moment. Ryoko had her engines running at full power, trying to escape the immense pull of an open chulip. However, she was loosing ground at a steady rate. 

          "I'm coming!" Finn shouted.

          "No, you'll get sucked in too. Stay back," Ryoko shouted back. Finn ignored her warning. However, halfway, Hikaru's Aesti appeared in front of him.

          "Don't. You'll get pulled in with her. We can't lose two of you," Hikaru said, even though her words tore away at her inside. "I'm sorry Finn, but…"

          "Amano, get out of my way," Finn said, becoming angry. "Now."

          "I…I'm sorry sir. As much as I want to help Ryoko, I can't let you destroy yourself trying to save her,"

          "I said get out of my way!" Finn shoved Hikaru aside flew towards Ryoko.

"Wait!" Hikaru tried to pull him back, but he shoved her away. 

"Give me your hand!" he said, holding an outstretched hand to Ryoko.

          "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ryoko demanded.

          "Just give me your hand!" Finn shouted back. Ryoko still refused his help. "Just do it damnit!" Grabbing Ryoko's aesti's hand, Finn cranked up his engines and tried to drag Ryoko and himself out of the range of the chulip's pull. "Come on baby come on, don't let me down now," Finn said to his machine and through his IFS, redirected every spare microspark of energy to his engine output.

          "Its me that's stopping you from getting away. Let me go!" Ryoko tried to pull herself free of his grasp. "I said just let me go!"

          "Are you nuts?! I can't do that!" Finn said, tightening his grip on her arm.

          "My engines are on full, so are yours. You can get away. Do it!" Ryoko continued to struggle.

          "Saotome, we're coming!" Finn heard Akito's voice.

          "Stay back!" Finn ordered. "If you're just going to float there try destroying the chulip!"

          "Roger!" Akito replied and he, Hikaru, and Akatsuki opened fire. However, their bullets  bounced harmlessly off the chulip's distortion field. 

          "Come on." Finn forced his engines even harder. Caution alarms turned into melt down alarms, but he kept forcing the engines even harder. The lower half of Ryoko's aesti was now inside the chulip.

          "Pilot Subaru's aestevalis had partially entered the chulip and is continuing to be pulled further in," reported Ruri. The bridge crew held their breath and watched Finn's desperate struggle to haul Ryoko out of the chulip. 

          "Warning. Core temperature at 350% above acceptable operation output. Shut down engines or melt down immanent." Finn's computer told him. "Warning. Core…"

          "Shut up!" Finn said and closed the window. Finn pulled and managed to gain a few meters.

          "Emergency override activated. Engine shut down progress," the computer said. Everything but except the life support system died. Finn's cockpit went black. The crew watched in horror as the two robots plunged into the chulip.

          "Arm the gravity blast cannon! Destroy that chulip!" Yurika ordered.

          "Negative. Destroying the chulip at this point in time would be useless. It would either destroy pilots Subaru and Saotome or cause the subspace inside to collapse. This would bring the probability of them surviving to 0%." Ruri warned. The chulip closed its opening and continued on its way.

          "Ruri. Recall the remaining aestivalis." Yurika choked. "Return to guard point 09.

          "It looks like there will be two more funerals," Prospector said grimly, pushing up his glasses.

          "No. We're not giving up on them," Yurika managed to say. "Not yet."

**Alive**

          "Ooowwww," groaned Finn. "Wha…what happened?" He slowly opened his eyes, but his vision was blurry. After a few minutes, his vision gradually came back into focus, and he managed to more or less see his surroundings. He was laying on what seemed to be like some kind of table. The room was brightly lit and appeared to be part of, Finn assumed, some kind of medical facility. There were a few others in the room, all of them men. Most appeared to be asleep, but two were talking quietly in a corner. The door slid open and a short, slightly stocky man walked in.

          "Ah, I see you're awake 395." he said in Finn's direction.

          "Me?" Finn asked bewildered.

          "Yes. How are you feeling?" the man, who Finn assumed to be a doctor, asked.

          "I'm fine, I guess. Everything's a little blurry but…who are you? What is this place?" Finn tried to piece everything together. 'I remember trying to pull Ryoko out of the chulip…then my systems died and we got pulled in. But what happened after that? Why does it feel like I've been through this before?'

          "That's good. You should be fine. When we found you, you were in a state of exhaustion. Some miners working in the area brought you in," the doctor replied. "Good thing too. A few more hours and your air would have given out."

          "Where am I? What is this place?" Finn asked himself, looking around the room.

          "Is your memory really that bad? If it will make you feel better, you're in the 2nd District medical centre of the moon Dustron."

          "Dustron?" Finn asked puzzled.

          "Yes. It's commonly known as Dusty. I suppose I don't have to tell you this is part of the Jovian Realm," he chuckled. Finn began to connect the dots.

          'This must be a Jovian settlement,' Finn concluded.

          "Tell me, do you have a name?" the doctor asked, taking a clipboard from under his arm.

          "A name?" Finn tried to sound confused. "My name…"

          "Oh dear, this could be worse than I thought," the doctor said, jotting something down.

          "No no. It'll come to me. I'm still a little light headed. That's all." Finn searched his memory for a believable name. 'Who knows, they may have spies on Earth that could check out my real name.' "Its…Jiro. Jiro Amada." 'Hey, it worked once before.'

          "Well then Jiro. I am Doctor Aoyama, but you can just call me Doc A, everyone else does. Do you recall anything that happened? What were you doing outside?"

          "I…I don't remember," Finn replied, this time he was actually being truthful.

          "Well, the seismic sensors detected some kind of impact not far from where you were found. Probably a small chunk of rock, it happens all the time. I suspect you might have been hit by a part of the shockwave, which would explain why you're a little battered," explained Doc A. "You were wearing the most peculiar space suit."

          "My suit?" Finn asked. "Oh yeah. The suit. It was…a gift from my…um…grandfather. He had is custom made for me. Do you still have it?"

          "Yes, its being kept in a storage locker, 28A. All you need to do is press your thumb against the pad there to open the locker. Why do you ask?" inquired the doctor.

          "I need it for…it was the last thing my grandfather gave to me before he passed away. It was a great deal of sentimental value. I wouldn't want to lose it," replied Finn. Then, something hit him. 'Ryoko!' He thought. 'Did she get out somehow?'

          "I see. Well, you can have it once we've released you from the hospital. We'd like to keep you overnight just to make sure you're alright," Doc A went on to say.

          "Tell me doc, was anyone else found other than me? A girl…green hair…?" Finn asked.

          "A girl eh? Hmm, I'm not sure. If there was, she would have been admitted to the women's ward of the building. Hang on, I'll find out." The doctor walked over to a phone attached to the wall, picked it put, and began making his inquiries. After a few minutes, he returned. "Yes, there was a girl found with you."

          "Can I go see her?" asked Finn.

          "Oh, I'm afraid not. She just woke up a few minutes ago. She seems to be in a similar state as yourself. Temporary memory loss, that sort of thing," Doc A replied.

          "Could I at least go and see her? Just to make sure she's the girl I'm thinking of," Finn persisted, trying to persuade the doctor.

          "I would have thought a young man of your age would have known by now…" Doc A began.

          "Known what?" Finn looked puzzled.

          "That in hospitals, like all government buildings, men and women are kept separate," the doctor finished. "It wouldn't be proper for a lady to see you dressed as you are."

          "What's wrong with this?" Finn looked at what he was wearing, a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. He concluded that they had been given to him upon his arrival. 

          "That is hardly proper attire to meet a lady in," the doctor replied. "But don't worry, you can see her once she wakes up and has been looked over. In the meantime, you should get some rest. Maybe then you'll remember a bit more. There's a spare bed in the corner over there by Sanoske," Finn froze.

          "Come again?" he asked. 'Maybe I just heard him wrong.'

          "Sanoske. He's the man over there." Doc A indicated to the far side of the room where two men were talking. And sure enough, there was Sanoske, just how Finn remembered him.

          'Oh shit,' Thought Finn. "Alright. Thanks doc," he said as the doctor left the room. Finn slowly walked over to the bed Doc A had indicated. 

          "So, what are you in for?" the man Finn recognized as Sanoske asked.

          'It's the same guy, or girl, or whatever. Crossdresser. But what is he/she/it doing here? It's a good thing he couldn't see my face during the battle, but if he hears my voice…this is not good.' Finn thought. "I…um…" However, before he could say anything, the man beside Sanoske spoke.

          "Didn't you hear the doc, Sano? They found him by a crash site. Some asteroid hit or something," he said.

          "What's your name then?" asked Sanoske.

          "Jiro. Jiro Amada." answered Finn in a deeper than normal voice, attempting to disguise himself a little. "Yeah, the doc said they found me outside. Don't remember much right now I'm afraid, but it'll come back to me. What about you?" 

          "Sano here?" The man said before Sanoske could answer. "He's the greatest pilot of the third division! He went one on one with one of the Earth's new humanoid robots and won! Kicked that tin can's ass."

          "Really?" Finn tried to sound impressed, even though he knew the statement was exaggerated. "If you won, what are you in here for?"

          "I had to leap before the robot exploded, I also sustained a few hits from enemy fire. Nothing serious, just a few bruises and a cracked rib." Sanoske explained. "What division are you from?" 

          "I…I…uh…" Finn tried to think of some kind of response. 

          "He's probably too tired to remember that. You heard him trying to get his name right," Sanoske's friend joked. "I'm Jack, by the way."

          "Nice to meet ya. It's nice to see that the author isn't going to use Japanese names only in the fic. It's a kind of refreshing. Now if you guys will excuse me, I need to get some rest," Finn said, and closed the curtain that was strung between the beds. 'That's got to be him…or her…whatever. She must still be in disguise. But why? Unless…' Finn remembered what the doctor had said about being 'proper' in the presence of women. 'women aren't allowed to be soldiers.' He concluded. 'Explains a lot.' Finn yawned and was soon asleep. 

          A shuffling noise woke Finn some time later. The room was dark and, Finn assumed, that it must be very late. Silently he slipped out of bed, his bare feet made little noise on the tiled floor, and carefully pulled the curtain back just far enough so he could peer out. He saw someone carefully making their way to the door of the room. It was too dark to see who it was, but Finn had a pretty good idea who it was. 'Sanoske,' he concluded. 'What is he up to? I wonder,' He heard Jack mumble something in his sleep, and then continued his light snoring. Sanoske looked back near the beds. Finn ducked behind the curtain so he wouldn't be seen, but his foot hit something at the side of the bed and made a clanking noise. 'Dag nab it,' Finn mentally kicked himself for being so careless. He could hear no more noise coming from the front of the room. Finn made a snoringlike noise and rustled the sheets on his bed. After a few moments, the sound of Sanoske creeping towards the door and Finn returned to his position peeking out of the curtain. The door was slowly slid open and a soft light poured into the room. Sanoske slowly exited the room, and closed the door behind him. Finn came out from his hiding spot and made his way to the door. Once there, he waited a few moments to make sure that Sanoske would not be close enough to hear the door opening. He slid open the door and quickly slipped out of the room just in time to see Sanoske round a corner. Finn followed stealthily down the hall after him. The corridor was dark, the only light coming from small nightlightlike lights along the edges of the floor. Finn stayed just far back enough so he could easily conceal himself if Sanoske looked back. This little game went on for a few minutes, Finn running from doorway to door way as he carefully followed his target, until he finally saw him head into a room to which the door had been propped open by a stopper. He removed the stopper and entered the room, Finn moved quickly as the door squeaked and almost closed. It would have closed had it not been for Finn, who had made it to the door just before it closed and held it open. 'This is going to be tricky,' he thought. The door squeaked when as it had closed, so Finn reasoned that it would squeak when it was opened. When the sound of Sanoske's footsteps stopped, Finn quickly opened the door just enough for him to slip into the room. There was a wall in this thin room that ran along the back of this small opening and continued to the right of Finn, where there was a corner. Around which, Finn was certain he would find Sanoske. As Finn predicted, Sanoske could be heard making his way back to the door to investigate the noise. Fortunatly for Finn, the small hallway in this room was narrow enough for him to place both hands on one side and his feet on the other and managed to climb up the sides until his back was against the ceiling. Just a few feet below him, Finn could see Sanoske looking around and check the door to see if it was secure. He then locked the door and made his way around the corner once again. Finn let himself fall in a controlled way to the floor and peeked around the corner. The room was dark, but a slight click could be heard and the room was illuminated by two florecent lights on the ceiling. The room, Finn guessed was some kind of storage that doubled as a janitor's office. There were shelves everywhere with bottles, buckets, and many other maintenance related items. In the far right-hand corner of the room, there was a small mirror hanging from the wall. Sanoske stood in front of the mirror and proceeded to remove his hospital issued sweatshirt. 'Yep, he's a woman,' Finn thought when he saw her bound chest.

          "Playing a guy is no easy task," he heard Sanoske mumble as she adjusted and readjusted her bindings. "These things are killing me," she said as and finally put her sweatshirt back on, content with her bindings. She then loosened her hair, which, Finn noticed for the first time, was always kept in a ponytail. Her hair was long and light brown in colour. Taking a brush out of her pocket she proceeded to brush her hair. All the while being watched by Finn. She was not bad looking. She was about Ryoko's height, but her face reminded him more of Erina, that cold narrow nose and sour expression. "That Amada guy, he seems familiar somehow. I'm sure I've never seen him before, but his voice. There's something about his voice. Where have I heard it before?" 

          Meanwhile, Finn tried to piece together what was going on. 

          'Ok, he's a she. I know what much. It's obvious that the Jovians don't allow women in their military. So she must be a girl that wanted to fight but couldn't join. She then dressed as a guy to get in. But why is the big question in this. Why would she want to fight?' Finn thought and went back to observing Sanoske. 'Wait a sec…just what is her real name anyway?' He pondered the thought. She took out a small locket from around her neck and opened it. Finn was too far away to see whose picture it contained, but guessed that it held the answers to a few questions.

          "Don't worry, dear Sanoske," she said, holding the locket against her face. "Once I destroy the Earth's phase transition ship, your name will live forever in history! And then I will join you in the afterlife,"

          'Alert! Alert! Nutbar sighted!' Finn thought.

          "I must go now, my love," she was talking to the picture again. "If they discover me, all my plans will be for not." She threw her sweatshirt back on and began to put her hair back in its ponytail.

          'That was educational.' Finn searched for his little notebook. 'Damnit. I must have left it in the ACF. Uh oh, time to go.' He opened the door and slipped out. However, he forgot that the door's hinges needed oil and it squeaked as it opened and closed.

          "Alright, who's there?" Sanoske demanded, rounding the corner just in time to see the door close. Outside, Finn searched the hallway for something, anything that he could use to hide himself. However, the hallway was empty other than a few garbage cans and the occasional bench.

          'Have to risk it.' Finn thought and slipped into the room directly across the hall. Fortunately the door opened and closed silently. Outside he could hear the faint shuffling of Sanoske's slippers against the tile floor. The shuffling came closer. 'Man, what stinks in here?' Finn asked himself as he noticed the putrid smell of the room. 'Who cares, just move!' And he dove behind a large box-like structure. The door opened, and Finn could see the dim light spilling into the room.

          "Hmm," he heared Sanoske mutter. Soon after he heard the door close and heaved a sigh of relief.

          'Man, I think I'm gonna hurl.' Finn put a hand over his mouth and fumbled for a light. He found a small cord hanging from the ceiling and pulled it. A few florescent lights overhead came to life. Finn turned green. Around him were carts filled with soiled sheets and dirty bedpans. Finn grabbed a nearby garbage can and proceeded to vomit multiple times. 'Can't…breath! Must not take in air!' his mind screamed, and he fumbled for the door handle. However, just as he was about to pull it open, he remembered that Sanoske might still be out there. After a few sickening minutes, Finn peeked outside, and saw that the coast was clear and silently slipped out. Before he headed back to his room, he glanced at a sign on the door. It read 'sanitation room'. Finn vomited once more into a garbage can and stumbled back down the hall to his shared room. He slid the door open a crack, the lights were on, and someone was talking.

          "I'm telling you, this Jiro guy isn't what he seems. There's something more to him. Why would he just leave in the middle of the night? It doesn't make sense," he heard Sanoske say.

          'Busted,' Finn thought and sat on the floor, trying to think of a plan. A light bulb appeared over his head, and he pilled the switch. 'I've got it!' And he stood up and strode casually into the room. "Hey guys. What's up?" he said trying to sound as though his disappearance was no big deal.

          "Where have you been?" Jack asked, shielding his eyes from the light.

          "Just out for a walk. Woke up an hour or two ago and couldn't get back to sleep." Finn replied.   

          "What direction did you go in?" Sanoske asked suspiciously.

          "To the right and down that hall," Finn lied. "Why do you ask?"

          "No reason." Sanoske said.

          "Guys, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep," Jack complained. Some other men in the room also voiced some displeasure. Sanoske turned off the lights and they all returned to their beds. However, Sanoske spent the remainder of the night watching Finn's bed out of the corner of her eye.

          'There's something going on here. And I intend to find out,' she thought.

**Reunion**

          "Don't you think this is a little extreme?" Finn looked himself over in the suit he was wearing, given to him by a male nurse. "I'm just going to see if she's alright."

          "The doc was right. You are out of it," the nurse replied. "You know the rules. Men must be in proper attire if they are to meet a lady."

          "Oh…right. I guess I'm still a little forgetful after everything," Finn lied, when in actual fact he hadn't a clue as to what all the fuss was about. 'Either these guys are overly polite or they have broom sticks up their tail pipes when it comes to women,"

          "I'd hurry up if I were you. You don't want to keep a lady waiting, it's not proper," the nurse said with a certain degree of urgency in his voice. 

          "Uh…right." Finn replied and followed the nurse out the door. They went down a few corridors, turned a few corners, and eventually they came to a part of the hospital that Finn guessed to be some type of neutral area, where men and women were allowed to meet. There was a large room with chairs, couches, and a few tables. It looked somewhat like a hotel lobby to Finn. The nurse stopped at the entrance because, Finn guessed, he was not properly dressed. 

"You're friend is waiting in conference room 2," the nurse gestured to one of the rooms that ran along the side of the lobby. 

"Thanks," Finn said and walked into the room. There was no one else there, which made him feel a little uneasy. The grandeur of the room added to his anxiety. However, the possibility of someone listening in on their conversation worried him even more than just being alone in this atmosphere. Opening the door, Finn walked into the small conference room. There was a table with office chairs set around it. Standing at the end of the table was a girl that looked like Ryoko. She was dressed in an elegant navy blue dress with white gloves. However, her hair was not the usual dyed green. It was, instead, black. She heard Finn enter the room and turned around.

          "I…" Finn as at a loss for words. It was obviously Ryoko standing there in front of him, but it was strange seeing her looking this good, not that she wasn't bad looking in her uniform. But this was a state he'd never seen her in before. "You're looking lovely, as usual," he said with an uncontrollable smile. Ryoko eyed him suspiciously, as though she was wasn't quite sure it was Finn standing there. "Although, I much preferred you with green hair," Ryoko's face softened a little.

          "Good, it is you. I wasn't quite sure there for a sec. Never seen you with your hair like that," Finn had to change his hair style in order to look 'proper'. The smell of the gel was giving him a slight headache. Finn walked over to her and took her into his arms.

          "Shh. They might have bugged the room," he whispered in her ear when he felt Ryoko tense and get ready to beat the crap out of him. 

          "And here I thought you were going to make a move," Ryoko said in a mock-disappointed tone of voice that surprised Finn.

He checked the room for any hidden microphones or cameras. He checked under the table and found a small object that looked like a metal vitamin pill with a tiny red light on the top. Finn motioned for Ryoko to remain quiet as he pulled the device part into two pieces. The red light turned off and he continued to look around, this time checking the lights overhead and behind a small end table at the rear of the room.

          "That should do it," he said in a hushed voice. "But keep your voice down, there might still be more bugs in here that I didn't find. But try to avoid mentioning anything that they might link to the you know what."

          "Alright," Ryoko replied. 

          "What have you been able to find out?" asked Finn, taking a seat.

          "It's pretty obvious that this is a Jovian colony." Ryoko answered, taking a seat for herself.

          "Yeah. Its called Dustron, or Dusty by the locals. This must be a moon the Jovians discovered when they came out here. Apparently it's a mining colony and the building we're in is the medical centre of the 2nd district, whatever that means," Finn explained.

          "We must have crashed here when we were pulled in and somehow managed to stumble out onto the surface. They told me that we were picked up by a mining team. Did they tell you the same thing?" Finn nodded.

          "What story have you used?"

          "I haven't explained anything in detail. Just that you and I were out for a walk." Ryoko. "And the name is Reiko Tokai."

          "Very original," Finn smirked.

          "What about you?"

          "Jiro Amada." He answered.

          "You've been watching Gundam 8th MS Team again, haven't you?" Ryoko remarked.

          'Dang, how did she know that?' he thought. "Anyway, we have to make sure that our stories match. We don't want them getting suspicious. They already think I'm nuts down in the men's wing because I didn't know how to 'properly' meet a lady." Finn loosened his tie, which was beginning to choke him.

          "I don't think we should be dating. That might not be wise considering how they view men meeting women. But then again, friends might also trigger some suspicion." Ryoko said, trying to come up with a believable story that would be acceptable to Jovian society.

          "We could try engaged?" Finn said off the top of his head. 

          "Why did I have a feeling you'd say something like that?" Ryoko turned a slight shade of red.

          "Because, then it would be a believable reason for us to be together. I don't think we should be separated if we want to get out of here," Finn answered.

          "Sir? Is everything alright in there?" someone asked, knocking on the door. Finn got up.

          "Yes, everything is fine." He opened the door a little ways so the butler-like man could see for himself.

          "Very good, sir. I apologize for interrupting you," he said, bowed, and walked off.

          "These guys are hilarious," Finn laughed as he sat back down. "So what do you think?"

          "That sounds like a plan to me," Ryoko answered.

          "And we were outside for a quiet walk. They told me they detected an impact not far from where we were found, which was probably our frames. They think it was some sort of meteor hit. And we were knocked down by the shockwave," Finn continued. "I think that's the way we should play this."

          "Just one problem," Ryoko said.

          "What's that?"

          "How are we going to get out of here? Its one thing to pass off as somebody else for a day or two, but what if we're stuck here for a while, it might not hold," Ryoko said, sounding somewhat doubtful of Finn's plan. Finn touched his communicator, which was the only thing he owned that was still with him. "You mean…"

          "Uh huh. All we have to do is get you a suit, get my suit, go back to wherever this little baby points us and we're set," Finn said smiling.

          "I'm not usually pessimistic, but don't you ever think of the things that could go wrong with your plans. Sure we can make it to our frames, but then what? We're orbiting Jupiter for crying out loud! It would take us months to even reach Mars," Ryoko pointed out.

          "I forgot that," Finn's head tilted to one side. "Speaking of suits, do you still have yours?"

          "No. They said it was 'inappropriate' for me to be wearing that thing. So we'll have to get something I can use to get to my aesti," Ryoko replied.

          "Excuse me sir, but they are launching now. I thought you might like to see," the butler said, gently knocking in the door.

          "We'd better check this out," Finn said, getting up and opening the door. He bowed a little as Ryoko walked passed him and into the lobby. 

          "No need to overdo it," she hissed.

          "But it wouldn't be proper," Finn joked. They were led to a television screen on the far side of the room. The butler turned it on and stood back, giving Finn and Ryoko a good view of the screen.

          "This is Peter Mansbridge Jr with JNN. Today the Superior Male Forces will be launching another wave of robot interceptors into Earth space. This is a strategically important move for the SMF because it will help relieve the pilots of our Dimojin robots," a tall, bald man explained. "They will be launching from warp gate points alpha, omega, and zeta located in near SMF Headquarters orbiting Europa. The interceptors will appear on Earth on the North American, African, and Asian continents, emerging from the other side of gates. The gates will remain open for two weeks, until all the interceptors have deployed." A light bulb light up over Finn's head.

          "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he whispered to Ryoko.

          "Uh huh," she answered smiling. 

          "Very educational,"

**Who Wants to be a Jovian?**

          "Are you sure you're alright? You still haven't told me much about you. Where you live, your id number," Doc A asked nervously.

          "No need to worry. Never better!" Finn said. "We'll make it home no problem.

          "At least let met arrange for a car to take you and Miss Tokai home." The doctor insisted. This had been going on for a few days now. It was now a week since Finn and Ryoko crashed on Dusty. They had spent most of that time just laying around in their rooms being bored, but did manage to talk to one another fairly regularly. Finn figured it would be better to disappear into Jovian society than to stay in the hospital, especially with Sanoske around. They didn't want to take the chance. Since they had no spare clothes with them, the hospital had given them each something they could wear on the way home. Finn was wearing a collared blue shirt and beige pants, while Ryoko wore a faded yellow sundress. It wasn't as formal as when they first met in that little room, but the hospital staff insisted they wear something better than sweatpants and t-shirts on the way home. 

          "Thanks but no thanks, doc," Finn replied. "I think the walk home will do us good. Haven't had time to stretch my legs for a while."

          "I can see there's no reasoning with you," Doc A laughed. "Have a safe trip home."

          "Thanks." Finn shook the doctor's hand and they started on their way.

          "Sir! You're heading for the parking lot. The city is that way," Doc A called after them.

          "Uh…right!" Finn laughed nervously and changed direction, heading the way Doc A was pointing. "I knew that," Doc A sweatdropped.

          "I'll never understand some people," he said to himself and walked back inside the building.

          Finn and Ryoko left the hospital grounds and found themselves on the city streets. Finn was carrying their pilot suits in a small shopping bag. Ryoko's skintight suit fit easily into the small bag, but Finn's metal suit took up most of the space. But it was remarkably compact if you knew how to fold it properly. 

Even though this was a space colony, the structure was so big that it felt like they were outside. A simulated sun and clouds were overhead, making it feel remarkably like any city on Earth. A few cars drove by but for the most part, the streets were filled with pedestrians and cyclists. If they didn't know any better, they would have said they were on vacation somewhere on Earth. However, they didn't have time to enjoy the view. 

          "Remember the plan," Ryoko said, nudging Finn in the rubs when she noticed he was taking a little too much interest in what was going on around them.

          "Right." Finn concentrated on the task at hand. "Where do you want to start looking? Keep in mind that women here are supposed to be 'proper' ladies, not battle hardened warrior bit…" Finn was cut off as Ryoko exercised her knuckles into Finn's stomach. "Respected officers," Finn managed to squeak. 

          "I thought I'd try my hand at waitressing," Ryoko said. "There must be SOME jobs for women."

          "Well, you could try…." Finn's face was the guest of honour at Ryoko's knuckle party.

          "Don't even think _that_," She hissed. 

          "Very educational," Finn shrank down and lay sprawled out on the sidewalk for a few minutes before catching up with Ryoko. "Man, lighten up a little." He quickly jotted notes down in his notebook, which had been with his suit in the locker.

          "I'm afraid I'm not in the mood for jokes right now. Being stranded millions of kilometers from home in unfamiliar enemy territory does dampen one's sense of humour," Ryoko replied, all the time not slowing her step or even glancing at Finn beside her. "So where are you going to check out?" she asked after a few minutes of walking in silence towards the main metropolitan dome of the colony. 

          "I thought I'd try and find a garage or something, see if I can get a job as a mechanic or something," answered Finn.

          "Oooh, impressive. So there is something in there." she laughed as she ruffled his usual animestyle hair.

          "Hey!" Finn protested, but soon gave in.

          After a few hours of aimless wandering around the downtown core of the colony, Finn stopped outside a store.

          "Hey, why'd you stop?" Ryoko asked, a few steps ahead of him.

          "Look at this." Finn motioned to the store's nameplate.

          "A bookstore? What's so special about that?" Ryoko said tapping her foot.

          "Just come on," Finn grasped her wrist and dragged her into the store. Inside, it was fairly spacious, which two levels and shelves upon shelves of books. Finn picked one up and glanced through it. 'I wonder how they made paper out here?' he asked himself. 'Very educational.' He casually looked through the store, however, there was a particular target in mind.

          "Just what are you looking for anyway?" Ryoko asked, eyeing the clerk at the cash register, who was looking at her strangely. "Um…dear?" She held onto his arm. This seemed to satisfy the clerk and he went back to whatever he was doing.

          "Ancient history…Earth history…here we go," Finn said, finally settling on a section. He looked at Ryoko, who looked at him as if to say 'just what the hell are you thinking, you idiot?'. "Studying," he said and picked up a book called 'The Great Purge'. " 'In the year 2094 of modern humanity's history, mankind had spread from his home planet, the Earth, and now inhabited several lunar colonies. However, this was a time of great political unrest. There were many factions of the lunar settlements that wished to rule themselves, rather than remain under the control of the oppressive government of the United Earth Armed Forces…' " he read. "Most definitely educational. 'There were two lunar political parties formed. The Moderates wished for a negotiated peace to the political uneasiness. The Separatists wished for the immediate withdraw of all UF personnel and influence, and were willing to resort to violent tactics. However, there were few violent eruptions. The UF wished to maintain control of the moon and infiltrated both the Moderates and the Separatists and aggravated what aggression lay between them. During the confusion, UF soldiers were deployed in and marshal law was declared. The Separatist and Moderate leaders were rounded up, along with most serious supporters for both groups, and were held in holding camps while the government authorities decided what to do with them. The leaders were executed at once, although UF said publicly that they had either killed themselves, or were killed trying to escape. This was the decided fate for most of the other supporters of the independence movement. However, a small group of Separatists that slipped through the purge planned an escape for the remaining prisoners. They set off explosives in several parts of the detention centre, and during the confusion, most of the prisoners were escaped. Knowing they could never again be seen publicly without being arrested, they fled the moon and started colonies on Mars. 

For many years they lived without any trouble from the UF. Many of the survivors, as they were now called, believed they were safe from the Earth government's tyranny. This, sadly, was not to be the case. In the year 2102, the UF struck again. This time they used nuclear warheads launched from satellites they had orbiting Mars, their target: the Martian colonies. Most of the colonies were devastated. However, there was a small band of survivors, made up of many people from several colonies and managed to escape Mars. This time they fled to the asteroid belt and the moons of Jupiter…'" 

          "Explains a lot," Ryoko said under her breath.

          "Is there anything I can help you with?" the clerk asked from the register.

          "No, we're fine, thanks," Finn replied. "Come on, let's go." He replaced the book and they left the store.

          "No wonder they have a grudge against the UF," Finn remarked, after having made sure nobody else was within earshot.

          "Yeah, but they left out one thing. How did they get such advanced weaponry? I mean, even if they had been working around the clock there's no way they could come up with that stuff so quickly," Ryoko replied.

          "Yes. 'tis a profound mystery indeed," answered Finn. "Hey, look over there." He led/dragged Ryoko down the street.

          "Will you cut that out? I can walk." She twisted free of his grasp. 

          "Sorry," he apologized. "But, just take a look at this." In front of them was a large building. There was a sign that said "2nd District Shuttle Repair". "What do you think?"

          "Its worth a shot," Ryoko said examining the front of the building. "You do know how a PT engine works, right?"

          "Kind of. I understand the science behind it, but if you told me to build one…oh, I see what you're getting at." Finn stood there scratching his chin. "I got it. This is a civilian shuttle repair shop. I don't think they would use such advanced technology in civilian shuttles. And if they do, well the worst they can do is throw me out and I'm no worse off. I'll check it out. You should wander around a little and see if you can find something."

          "Alright. I think I saw a ramen shop a few blocks back," Ryoko said. 

          "They might as well go with the anime tradition of ramen shops," the author said.

"Meet me back here in an hour, k?" Ryoko said, ignoring the author.

          "Ok," Finn answered and he walked into the garage. 

Upon entering, he saw pretty much what he expected to see. From the front, the building looked deceivingly small. It was, in fact, like walking into a hangar at an airport. There were three shuttles inside, all of them in different stages of being repaired. There was one that looked like it had been run through a trash compactor. Its wings were laying on the floor, there was an enormous hole in the middle, and the nose looked like it had flown straight into a wall. The shuttle next to it had most of it's siding stripped and there were various workers fiddling with wiring. 'Must be some kind of electrical problem.' Finally he laid eyes on the last shuttle, which looked to be on good shape with exception to the large scrapes and gouges along its underside, and there was a man wielding a welding torch by a part of the landing gear. 'So we have crushed, stripped, and crashed. At the left side of the hangar there was a small section of what could be considered as offices. But Finn guessed it to be more of a storage room as he walked over, carefully stepping over all the various shuttle parts and tools scattered about the dirty floor. When he reached the offices, he found that there was a large man sitting at a desk. He was big, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, which had been stained black from motor oils and engine lubricant. He was talking on the phone. Finn knocked on the wall and the man looked up. He motioned for Finn to wait a second while he finished. 

          "Are you a client?" the man asked when he got off the phone.

          "What? No, no I'm not a client," Finn answered.

          "Then what do you want?" The man seemed to be in a bit of a fowl mood.

          "I'm actually looking for employment," answered Finn.

          "You?" The man laughed. "You look more like someone who's ready for a golf game than fixing busted ships."

          "I thought it best to make myself presentable," Finn lied.

          "Got any experience?"

          "Yes. I've worked mainly with conventional and nuclear powered ships, mainly overhauling engines and fixing wiring and system controls. I haven't worked with any phase transition powered ships though," Finn mentally kicked himself. 'Damnit! I don't know if they call those kinds of ships 'phase transition' powered.'

          "That's alright, kid. Only the military uses phase transition cores. Let's see whatcha got." He got up from his desk and led Finn to the really crushed looking shuttle. "If you can any of these engine's ignitions to spark in half and hour. I'll hire you. If not, tough. I got no room for slackers here. Right men?!"

          "Yes sir!" they all called back.

          "Well, get going, kid." The man walked back to his desk. "By the way, call me Sam." he called back from the office door. Finn ran his hand along the battered hull of the ship.

"Alright baby. Lets see if we can get you humming again." Finn removed the finer coat and shirt and set to work. "Ok, wiring's shot, the fuel injector's are snapped, and ignition is blown. And I see a few loose parts elsewhere. Easy."

          "Alright kid. Time's up," Sam shouted, standing at the front of the ship. "Get that ignition fixed?"

          "Yes sir." Finn called from the cockpit, from which the roof had been removed.

          "Really? I'm surprised, kid. But let's just take a look." Sam started to walk towards the rear of the ship to inspect Finn's work.

          "Actually sir. Just stay right there. This ship is locked down to the floor right?"

          "Yeah…" Sam started.

          "Then just stay there." He fiddled with some controls. There was a crack and an enormous roar filled the hangar. The engine he had fixed, which was one of three, came to life. Had the ship not have been restrained, it would have blasted clear through the hangar doors. "How's that?" He called, although it was so load he couldn't hear his own words, so he shut it down. "How's that?" he called again when the noise had subsided.

          "I uh…when can you start?" 

          "Tomorrow," Finn replied, jumping down from the cockpit.

          "Good. Pay's 20 cubes an hour. Be here tomorrow morning,"

          "Sure thing." Finn shook the man's oil stained hands and left the hangar. 'What is a cube?' he thought. Outside it was beginning to get dark. 'I guess they're starting to shut down for the night to conserve power.' He waited there for a few minutes, and then caught sight of Ryoko walking down the street. 

          "What happened to you?" she asked, noticing Finn looking very grungy and wearing his undershirt, with his outer shirt under his arm. 

          "I had to do some stuff," Finn replied with a smirk.

          "How'd it go?"

          "I start tomorrow," 

          "Great. I also start tomorrow at the ramen shop," she replied. "I have to be a…waitress." Ryoko didn't seem happy about this. 

          'I guess that's because she's used to giant robots blowing up, not fetching noodles,' Finn thought.

          "The only reason I took the job was they were offering a room to stay in," she added quickly, noticing Finn's amused expression. 

          "Perfect. Now all we have to do is find out where to buy a space suit, and how much," Finn said as they walked down the street. "Wait a sec…we can _both_ stay there…right? I mean, you know how these people are when it comes to…" 

          "Don't worry. I told them we were Mr and…" Ryoko struggled. "Mrs Amada." She looked at Finn's face, which had a really wide smile on it and was also a little red. "And don't think that I'm letting you sleep with me. There's one futon, you get the floor."

          "Yes ma'am," Finn said, still smiling. 

          "And stop grinning like that!" Ryoko said, trying to sound irritated.

          "Whatever you say." Finn tried to stop smiling like an idiot but couldn't help it. They walked in silence for a few minutes and before long were at the ramen shop. It had a sign in the window that read "Dusty's Noodles". "How original," Finn remarked. When they walked through the door, Finn saw a small, 9 table restaurant, with a tiny kitchen in the back. It was fairly slow inside, there were a few people all eating hot noodles. Ryoko led Finn around back to the kitchen where a elderly man and woman were busy doing this and that. Whatever it is that chefs do when it's not busy. 

          "Mr. Noda." Ryoko said, clearing her throat. "I'd like you to meet my h-husband. Jiro."

          "Nice to meet you, lad," Mr. Noda said, shaking Finn's hand. "Yuji Noda's the name. And this is my wife Yu."

          "Please to meet you Mr. Amada," Yu said, giving a little bow. 

          "Please, just call me Jiro." Finn gave an awkward bow back.

          "Order up. Miso steak ramen. Easy on the spinach," said a young girl from the counter. She looked to be about sixteen and had long red hair tied back in a ponytail. "Hey, who are these two?"

          "This young lady will be helping out here starting tomorrow," Mr. Noda answered. "Reiko Amada. And this is her husband, Jiro. They will be staying upstairs. Mr. and Mrs. Amada, this is my daughter, Junko."

          "Hi. Ok Pop, time to get to work," Junko said, sliding the order across the counter.

          "Alright. Dear, why don't you show these two upstairs?" Mr. Noda began his work, dipping uncooked noodles into a pot of boiling water.

          "Right this way." Yu led them up a narrow staircase and down an equally narrow hallway.

          'I'm sensing a recurring pattern here.' Finn thought. Finally she led them into a very small room with a futon laid out on the floor. There was a set of shelves going up one wall and a small desk in the corner. Finn saw the small patch of bare floor that he would probably end up on and made some kind of 'eugh' sound.

          "Something wrong, Jiro?" Yu asked. "I know it's not much, but it's the best we can offer."

          "No no. Just had something stuck in my throat, that's all. This will do very well, thank you." Finn tried to cover his slip.

          "That's good. I'll leave you two alone now to get used to your new home. Do you have any bags?" Yu asked.

          "Bags?" they both asked in unison.

          "Yes, you know. Your stuff. Clothes. Things like that." Yu answered.

          "Oh bags. No we don't. We…just moved here and they lost our bags at the spaceport." Finn stumbled through his excuse.

          "Oh, that's terrible. Do they know you're staying here, if they find your things?"

          "They have my cell number," Finn replied. 'Oh please let them have cell phones here,' he thought.

          "Ok then. But in the meantime, you can borrow some of your things. My husband and I have a closet just jammed with things we don't usually wear today. I'll go get you a few things." Yu closed the door, and the sound of her footsteps down the hall could be heard.

          "Whew," Finn heaved a sigh of relief.

          "Cell phone? Wasn't that a bit risky?" Ryoko asked, knowing quite well what the answer to that question was.

          "Yeah, I know. But it worked, so there's no problem," Finn said, taking a seat in the chair that sat by the desk. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Do you really think this'll work? We have less than two weeks to earn enough 'cubes' to buy a spacesuit. After that…" he trailed off.

          "We're stuck here." Ryoko finished. "I don't know about you, but I have no intention of being a Jovian for the rest of my life and stuck on some rock millions of kilometers away from home."

          "Same here. I suppose the only thing we can do is try." Finn said. "Well, I'm heading out." He grabbed the bag containing his suit.

          "Why are you going there?" Ryoko asked.

          "I want to make sure they're still there. I have an idea. If I'm not back in an hour…avenge my death." Finn laughed and left the room. He bumped into Yu, who was carrying a mountain of old clothes, in the hall.

          "Just going out to finalize my new job," Finn told her and slipped past. 

          "Oh, before you go." She balanced the load on one arm and dug into her pocket and retrieved a key. "It's a key for the backdoor, in case you're ever out past closing."

          "Alright. Thanks." Finn took the key and continued on his way. He walked out the back door and began his trek by retracing his steps back to the hospital. When he got there it was very dark out, and the only light by which he could see was from the occasional streetlight. The hospital was situated on the far east wall of the colony's dome. Or at least, that's what Finn's watch compass told him. He walked along the wall until he found a heavy door, which led to a small hallway that went around the entire colony. Finn walked down the dimly lit hallway until he stumbled upon a small room, that looked he guessed to be part of the airlock facility. Sure enough, there were a series of doors, each having a small circular window, through which Finn could see outside. "Perfect." He glanced around, making sure no one else was in sight, and then put on his suit. It felt comfortable and familiar.  "No time for that," he said, clicking on his helmet. Time to get to work." And with that, he pulled open the first heavy door and began to move through the airlock. There were three doors in total. Each one had to be closed before the one in front of it could be opened. 

          Ryoko was awoken from an uneasy sleep by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall and the door to he room opening. She silently bolted out of bed and pressed herself flat against the wall adjacent to the door and waited for him to make a move. When the intruder took a step in she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. She then used her free arm to get him into some kind of a choke hold. It was very difficult for either Ryoko or the intruder to tell exactly what was going on due to the darkness.

          "What's that for?" the intruder whispered. 

          "Finn?" Ryoko asked.

          "Who did you think it was?" Finn asked as she released him from her kung-fu grip. 

          "Where the hell have you been? You said you'd be back in an hour, tops. That was four hours ago," Ryoko said in the loudest of whispers.

          "I was…delayed," Finn said, sitting down on the floor. Ryoko sat opposite of him. 

          "Spill it," she said. Finn began his explanation. "You mean to tell me that you were hiding the frames?"

          "Exactly. I wanted to make sure they weren't found. I brought my frame online and did a seismic scan, looking for a large pit of lunar dust. I found some about a hundred meters away from our crash site. But as I was carrying your frame to it a, from what I could gather, Jovian scout group flew overhead. So I had to hide behind a mound of boulders for three hours while they were looking around our crash site. Fortunately for us it was too dark to see the tracks I made," Finn explained.

          "So that's it," Ryoko said to herself, feeling what she took to be relief.

          "I buried your frame in the dust, then I went back to the crash sight to cover up the tracks. It was also a bit of a walk coming back here. And you, I might add, have one heck of a chokehold," he said, massaging his shoulder. 

          "Uh…sorry," Ryoko mumbled.

          "Ah, a word of apology. Much appreciated." Finn couldn't even see it coming. He was soon laying dazed on the floor. "Why are the cute ones always so violent?" 

          "What was that?" Ryoko asked. She received no answer. "Finn? You ok?" 'Uh oh.' She thought. "Hey Finn, you alright?" She fumbled for the lamp sitting on the desk. When she clicked it on she saw Finn laying there with a goofy smile on his face, snoring slightly. Ryoko smiled. "Idiot," She climbed back under the covers and was soon asleep as well.

**'One Week'**

          "New information has just come to JNN via Jovian Central Command." All eyes turned to the TV sitting on the counter in the ramen shop. "The UF's phase transition powered ship has finally been identified. Spies within the UF say that the ship, known to us as Wolf, is actually called the Nadesico." Ryoko, who was busy rushing orders from table to table, froze. "It has also come to light that two of the Nadesico's pilots were pulled into a leapgate three weeks ago. However, the gate was destroyed soon after and it was impossible to track where they ended up. However, JNN would like to assure everyone that it is impossible for these two Earth savages to still be alive, due to Earth's failure to successfully leap life forms yet. A search is being conducted in all areas for the two robots that were pulled into the gate. More on this story as it develops. Now, back to you…what was your name again?"

          "Its Nabashin!" a white guy with a funky afro appeared on camera.

          "Not you numb nuts!" the reporter screamed. The TV then went to commercial.

          "Reiko, you alright?" Yu asked, placing two bowls of noodles on the counter.

          "What? Oh yeah…I'm fine," said Ryoko, snapping back into reality.

          "Good. If you're done daydreaming we do have costumers to feed." Yu smiled, but her tone of voice indicated that it was more of a warning than a friendly joke.

          "Yes ma'am." Ryoko grabbed the two steaming hot bows. She nearly dropped them due to the heat, but caught herself just in time. 

          "Something wrong, dear?" Mr. Noda asked from the back.

          "I don't think I'll ever understand that girl. I could swear that before she came here she never even cooked a meal for herself, let alone served others. You'd think she came from one of the iroids (asteroids composed of iron) and been living off instant dinners all her life," Yu replied. "You think that's where they came from?"

          "Don't know. Most folks are moving out to the iroids looking for mining work, not moving into the big colonies to be mechanics like our boy Jiro," he chuckled. "Come to think about it, they showed up not long after they said those two Earth robots got pulled into a gate. You think its those two?" 

          "Jiro? A soldier?" Yu laughed. "The only weapon that boy's ever touched is a welding torch. Speaking of which. Hello Jiro." She waved as Finn came in through the back door. His hands were black with engine grease and the rest of him looked as though he'd been a human chimneysweep all day.

          "Domo," Finn replied with his usual smile. "Need any help?"

          "No. That's alright. The dinner rush has already come and gone. And even if we did need your help I wouldn't let you touch anything looking like that. What happened to you?" Yu asked.

          "I kind of…caused an engine to overload while I was mending the exhaust shaft," Finn answered.

          "Oh, that's all," Yu didn't sound impressed. Probably because during Finn's short time as a mechanic he had been roasted, blown up, blasted, and sizzled in every kind of engine misfire you could think of. Fortunately these accidents were, for the most part, no fault of Finn's. "You're a walking disaster,"

          "Jiro the Stampede, the humanoid typhoon," Junko said, looking up from her Trigun manga.

          "Hey, its not my fault these people don't know how to take care of a space shuttle properly," Finn defended himself.

          "Anyway, you'd better wash up. Just please, take a different bar of soap. You gave me quite a scare last time when I found a black, greasy blob where I usually find my soap. Ugh, even thinking about that is enough to make my skin crawl." Yu shuddered.

          "I'll keep that in mind." Finn said as he disappeared up the stairs.

          "And don't touch anything like that!" Yu called after him.

          "K." Finn called back.

          Business at Dusty's Noodles continued as usual.

          'I wonder what possessed Mr. Noda to call this place 'Dusty's Noodles'?' Ryoko thought. 'It might make sense if his name was Dusty…but…' She did a mental shrug. It was well past eleven o'clock at night and they were closing up the store.

          "Ok, I'm off now," Ryoko said, glancing at the clock.

          "Alright dear," Yu said, putting away the last of the dishes. "Oh wait a sec. Reiko?" She said just as Ryoko was beginning to climb the stairs. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you about."

          "What's that?" Ryoko asked, standing on the first step.

          "Well, I know it's none of my business but…frankly. I'm worried about you and Jiro." Yu said, she sounded a little uncomfortable.

          "Why's that?" Ryoko asked, genuinely puzzled.

          "Well, it's like this. I don't usually get to sleep until one or two in the morning. And well, you two have been here for over a week now and I haven't heard…you know," Yu said in an uneasy voice.

          "Huh? What are you talking about?" Ryoko asked.

          "Are you and Jiro getting along alright?"

          "Yeah. We're doing great," Ryoko answered.

          "I'm just concerned that maybe there's something wrong. There's no sign of any…oh…how should I put this? Physical intimacy?" Yu said.

          "I…" Ryoko put all the pieces together. "Oh no. Nothing's wrong." She turned very red.

          "I know this isn't proper. I'm just trying to look out for you, dear." Yu closed the cupboards up. "Are you sure everything's ok?"

          "Yeah yeah. Everything's fine." Ryoko quickly disappeared up the stairs. Her face was as red as could be.

          "She's a virgin," Mr. Noda snickered from behind the counter.

          "You…you heard all that?" Yu asked startled.

          "Sure did," He said.

          "You dirty old man, you." Yu tried to sound mad but ended up laughing.

          "Finn…Jiro?" Ryoko knocked on the door, making sure she wouldn't walk in on him changing. "I'm coming in."

          "K," Came a reply through the door. Ryoko stepped into the dimly lit room. Finn was seated at the desk scribbling away in his little notebook. "Very educational," he said to himself.

          "What is?" Ryoko asked.

          "Huh?" Finn looked up. "Oh, nothing."

          "Come on. I always see you writing in that notebook. I want to see what it's all about." Ryoko snuck a few steps closer while Finn finished whatever he was writing. "Mine!" She grabbed it out of Finn's hands.

          "Hey!" Finn stood up and tried to swipe it back. "What are you doing?"

          "Just looking." She held Finn off with one hand and held the book open with the other. " 'Living with Ryoko has been…a very educating experience.'" She read. "Ooo, writing something about me. How sweet."

          "Come on. Give it back." Finn tried to dodge past Ryoko's kung-fu-like barricade.

          " 'She doesn't enjoy working in the shop. I know she'd much rather be at the controls of her aesti. I don't think she enjoys not being in control of what she's supposed to be doing. On the battlefield she's always cool and collected, knowing exactly what to do. She thinks more about the safety of others before considering her own. But now that she's out of her element…I don't know what to expect from her.' You wrote this?" she asked.

          "Those notes are…everything. They're priceless," Finn ducked under Ryoko's arm and grabbed at the notebook. His reach wasn't long enough and he ended up grasping her wrist. "Nothing can replace that kind of knowledge,"

          "Want to play rough eh?" Ryoko grinned and swiftly kicked his legs out from under him. However, he was still holding onto her wrist and pulled her down to the floor with him. Finn landed on the floor with his back to the wall. Ryoko lay on top of him.

          "Hot. Ooh baby, that's hot." Finn winced. Ryoko's face turned a distinct shade of red.

          "Knock it off," she said, pulling herself up and sitting in Finn's lap. "Let's see what else you've got in here," she continued to flip through the pages.

          "Hohoho mama that's hot,"

          "I said knock it off," Ryoko warned.

          "No…hot! Very hot! Radiator…on back…hot…" Finn managed to say.

          "What? Oh shit!" Ryoko jumped off Finn and hauled him away from the wall. His back was smoking and the back of his shirt had four black lines burnt into them. "How bad is it? Let me see." She touched the back of his shirt.

          "No, nononono. I'm fine. Its…ok." Finn shuffled a few steps away from her.

          "I'm going to get some ice from downstairs. Take your shirt off." Ryoko headed for the door.

          "What? No, its not that bad," Finn protested.

          "Strip," she commanded and disappeared out the door. Finn reluctantly removed the undershirt he was wearing and touched the burn. 

          "Yow." He winced. "That's gonna leave a mark." He sat facing the door. "Here goes."

          "Ok, you'd better have your shirt off. Hey, I can hear you two giggling in there!" Ryoko said as she passed by Mr. Noda and Yu's room. "Sorry about that I…oh my g…" she dropped the bag of ice and backed up against the doorway. "What…what the hell?" At first she tried to look away. But gradually she let herself see Finn's naked chest and back. However, it wasn't that she was interested in. Finn had his back to her. "That…how did you…?" she stammered.

          "How did I get this?" Finn said turning around to face her and revealing the other half of the jagged scar that had once been carved into his body. He picked up the ice and tried to hold it against the burn.

          "Here, let me get that for you." Ryoko took the ice from him and sat him down in the chair. She pressed the ice gently against the long red marks that had been seared into his skin. "What happened?"

          "I don't know," Finn replied in a low voice.

          "You can tell me. You know me enough by now that…" Ryoko started.

          "No, I don't know. I don't know how I got this. I've had it my entire life and I have no idea how this happened." He held his closed fists against his knees with his head lowered. "It hurts."

          "Sorry. Am I pressing the ice too hard?" She asked.

          "No. The mark, it hurts. It aches constantly. It's like…being slashed by a red hot knife." Finn's body shook for a moment and his voice trembled. Ryoko removed the ice and sat on the desk beside him. She could see drops of water on his closed fists. It took a moment for it to click in that those were Finn's tears.

          "Didn't your parents…" She began.

          "Why would I ask someone who's dead?" he cut her off. "Why would a lab rat have parents?" He added quietly. Ryoko looked at him, his body slumped in the chair. She couldn't see his face but could guess what it looked like. They passed some time in silence. 

          'What do I do?' she thought. 'I've pulled people from exploding ships, seen limbs blown off before. So why…why does this…?' She placed her hand over his. He took it and gave a gentle squeeze.  

          "Why does this hurt so much?" they both asked each other. 

          "Ryoko, I…" Finn stood up and took bother her hands. She stood up off the table. Both they're eyes shimmered with tears. One out of pain, the other out of concern. They're faces were remarkably close. Ryoko closed her eyes.

          "I…" she whispered, but was cut off by a rumbling noise. The whole house shook slightly, just enough to cause the two of them to loose their footing. Ryoko fell onto Finn, who fell onto the floor. 'Damn.' She thought.

          "What the?" Finn said, somewhat dazed. The rumbling subsided after a few minutes. 

          "You two alright in there?" Mr. Noda's voice came through the door. Ryoko jumped off Finn and let him in. They had obviously been sitting there a long time, for Mr. Noda was dressed in his house coat and looking very sleepy. 

          "What's the matter?" She asked as Finn scrambled into his shirt.

          "Damn blasting. They do this every now and then. Looking for iron nearby. Sometimes stuff falls over, but you two seem alright. G'night kids." Mr. Noda closed the door and walked back to his room.

          "I suppose that totally killed the mood." Finn said to himself, seeming back to his old self.

          "Yeah," Ryoko said sounding overly disappointed. "Don't you want to kiss me?" She struck a very sexy pose.

          "I…" Finn tried not to stare. 

          "Come on, I'm joking with ya." Ryoko got into bed. Finn took his usual position on the floor. "Aren't you coming?" She held half of the futon open. Finn was awestruck. "And you can stop thinking _that_." 

          "Yes ma'am." Finn said slipping under the warm blankets. "Finally, I won't freeze my ass off." When his back connected with the soft fabric of the futon, his eyes went as wide as dinner plates, but he bit his lip.

          "We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?" Ryoko said seductively.

          "Damnit," he laughed. "Stop toying with me!" Finn put his arm around Ryoko and they fell asleep soon after. And yes they still had their clothes on. 

"What?" the author asks the reader, who is disappointed about the lack of sex in this fic. "I'm trying to go for a bit of verisimilitude here, give me a break."

**Uh oh  
  
**

          "How much is this one?" Finn asked, holding the sleeve of a spacesuit.

          "That one is [] 5000, sir." The 'tailor' replied.

          "Man. Got anything…" he trailed off and looked at Ryoko.

          "Affordable?" Ryoko finished for him.

          "Well, we do have this suit over here," the tailor led them over to a dingy corner of the shop. "It is slightly used, but we have repaired the bullet holes and got most of the blood out."

          "Blood?" Finn asked.

          "Bullet holes?" Ryoko asked.

          "Yes, this one was used by a member of the Black Fang," the tailor said, cleaning the visor with his handkerchief. 

          "Not to be confused with a band of certain colony rebels from Gundam Wing, right?" the author asked.

          "That's right," answered the tailor.

          "How much?" Finn looked at the author.

          "Hey, don't look at me." He faded from view.

          "It's [] 2500," the tailor replied. 

          "Do you rent suits? We only need one for a little while," Finn said after a brief silence. 

          "You must not be from around here," The tailor hung the suit back up on its hook.

          "That's right," Ryoko said in a 'what-about-it?' tone of voice. 

          "We just got here a few days ago," Finn added before someone lost a tooth.

          "Well, on Dusty it is prohibited by law for citizens to use spacesuits for personal use, for obvious safety reasons. Only miners and those who have work outside the colony are permitted to have them," the tailor explained.

          'Then what's the point of selling them?' Finn thought. 

"Most of our customers are miners,"

"Tell me, would a shuttle repair shop have any, if they needed to do some testing in space to make sure everything was in working order?"

          "I don't see why they wouldn't. It's very likely. But I don't know for certain. Is this suit related to your work at all, sir?" asked the tailor.

          "Yeah…but I think I might be able to borrow one. Thanks." They left the shop.

          "You think the garage will have one?" Ryoko asked.

          "They might. I'll check back tonight and see. Right now, we need some provisions." Finn said, punching his open hand.

          "What do you prefer, instant noodles through a straw, or 'Nutrical vitamin supplement drink'? Ryoko asked when they got to the grocery store. Fortunately for them it was a Saturday, so Finn didn't have to work at the garage, and Ryoko didn't start until later at the ramen shop.

          "Dunno. What does it say about taste?" he asked, looking at the package. " 'Simulated natural colours and flavours. Note: Nutrical is not liable for any unmentioned side effects.' 'Side effects'? What do you mean 'side effects?'"  

          "Instant noodles through a straw it is then. But if we're…" Ryoko lowered her voice. "But if we're going through a you-know-what, why would we need this stuff?" 

          "Because we know where we'll show up, but only in a general way. We could come out at the bottom of the ocean or something. And if we're bashed around like we did last time, I think it would be a good idea to have some emergency food and water in case we're stuck anywhere," Finn explained, making sure no one was within earshot.

          "Makes sense." Ryoko put a few more bottles of water in their cart. "Oh, you're so smart, Jiro! I, being only a mere female, would never have thought of something so brilliant," she raised her voice so that everyone in the store could hear.

          "Not taking the whole Jovian woman thing very well eh?" Finn looked around, a few people glanced their way.

          "If I don't destroy something soon…" The sound of Ryoko's teeth grinding was audible. "Reiko the waitress will be serving severed heads soon."

          "Just wait a few more days. We're almost ready." Finn sweatdropped. 'Very educational,' he thought. "Today's lesson: butch female pilots must have a weekly prescription of destruction. Deprivation of this fifth food group can result in…' he looked at Ryoko. 'That."

          "Hey, I just thought of something. If civilians aren't supposed to have spacesuits…the why didn't they ask us any questions when we first got here?" Ryoko asked at the checkout counter.

          "Beats me," Finn shrugged. "Loose security I guess."

          "I'm just going to drop by the garage and see if they have anything we can use." Finn left Ryoko at the shop. He arrived at the garage just as the artificial sun was setting. 

          "Jiro?" Sam looked said from behind a mountain of paperwork that had built up on his desk. "You didn't have to come in today."

          "I know. I just wanted to ask you something." Finn walked up to the desk and leaned against the wall.   

          "Shoot." Sam tossed some papers on the floor.

          "What do we do in the event that there's some reason for one of us to go outside to…I don't know, something like check out a crashed shuttle or something?" He asked.

          "Outside? Haven't had to go out there for years, not since there was a leap gate accident and a transport full of officers crashed," Sam explained. "Why do you ask?"

          "Just something that's been on my mind. That's all," Finn answered.

          "Well, in the event that we need to go outside we have a few spacesuits laying around somewhere around here. But like I said, we've only had to go outside once. And now that the war's on, it's been pretty quiet out here. Most of the action is happening around Europa." San leaned back in his chair.

          'I think we can arrange something here.' Finn grinned as he thought this. "Alright. Thanks." Finn walked towards the exit. 'The wheels are in motion.' As he left the building he collided with another person. "Oh, sorry. Are you ok?"

          "Yes, I'm fine," the woman he collided with said. 

          "That's good. Well, see ya." Finn began to go on his way, glancing back at the woman as he left.

          "Oh, I feel faint." The woman held herself up against the wall of the garage. "The blow was more intense than I thought.

          "Are you alright?" Finn caught her, falling chest. 'Oh my gosh! She's not wearing a bra! And my earlier estimate of 33 inches was wrong, she's a 34 ½!' his mind screamed. Her body shook slightly. Finn interpreted this as some indication she was hurt. But instead of sobs, it sounded more like… 'laughter?' He thought.

          "Your compassion will be your downfall," the woman said in an oh-too familiar voice, grabbing Finn.

          "Aww crap." Finn tried to back away but Sanoske was holding onto his right arm.

          "Don't worry. I'm not here to kill you. Actually, it's quite the opposite. And by the way, the name is Sakura." She let go of Finn and removed the hood she was wearing. 

          'Yep, same chick.' Finn thought the moment he saw her face. "What do you want from me then?"

          "You know, you're the first guy to ever beat me." She seemed to ignore the question.

          "What the?" 

          "I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. I mean, look at you. You're just a lowly shuttle mechanic. No one would believe you're story," Sakura grinned.

          "What do you mean?" Finn asked. 'Aw man, I feel naked without my gun.' 

          "I'm going to let you in on a little secret," Sakura said.

          "And what would that be?"

          "You see, I find men to be…boring. Especially soldiers who pilot dimojins. They think they're so big. So tough. But what have they got?" She turned and faced the street. "Shoot down a few target drones and maybe engage the enemy a few times and that's it. They think they're king of the world. Why don't they see it? There's so much more to being a warrior than blowing stuff up. It takes cunning, skill, and honour above all else. You know what I'm talking about. You're the best the Earth has to offer. No doubt you know what it's like." 

          "I wouldn't know," Finn replied.

          "What do you mean?" Sakura asked, seemingly in a dreamlike state.

          "Being a 'warrior', honour. That's all shit. This is just a game played to win. If you're strong and lucky, maybe you'll come out of it alive. But if you get caught up in all this honour bullshit, it's only a matter of time before there's a stray missile with your name on it. Unfortunate as it may be, that's the way it is," Finn said coldly. "I don't fight for honour, I fight to stay alive and because, to be blunt, it's what I'm paid to do."

          "But on the battlefield, you wouldn't kill me because I was a woman. If that is true, then your own words defeat you," Sakura came back.

          "That's just a personal preference," Finn replied. "I don't like killing either way, really, but some part of my brain doesn't want to see women killed." They stood in silence for a long time.

          "I made a promise when I joined the armed forces," she turned to face him, her eyes shimmering. "I promised that if I was ever defeated, then I would give myself to that man. That man would be my other half." She wrapped her arms around Finn. "So come claim your prize. You've proven yourself to be more than just two hands at the controls."

          "Take your tentacles off me!" Finn protested and shoved her off. "What the hell is the matter with you?! Quite living in some daydream where some prince is going to come carry you off. We're enemies. If I wasn't 'weakened by compassion' as you put it, you'd be dead by now. Its as clear-cut as that."

          "So what you're saying is, I have to prove myself to you," Sakura regained her composure. "Very well then. You've proven yourself to me. Next time we meet, I shall prove myself to you!"

          "Haven't you been listening to what I've been saying?" Finn asked.

          "Yes, very clearly. We shall meet again on the battlefield. And then I shall prove myself to you." Sakura turned away and began to walk into the night.

          "Oooooh crap," Finn said to himself. "But still," he added, taking out his notebook. "Very educational." Then he remembered the time. "Oh shit!" He sprinted home as fast as he could.

          "Hello Jiro. Have a nice walk?" Yu greeted him as he walked in the back.

          "What? Oh, yes. Very educational." Finn bolted up the stairs and began furiously scribbling in his notebook. After what seemed like a few minutes, Ryoko came into the room. 

          "What happened?" Ryoko asked.

          "We're leaving," Finn said putting down his notebook. "Now."

          "What? Why now?" Ryoko asked. "What's going on? What happened to you?"

          "We're in trouble," Finn began stuffing their supplies into a duffle bag they had bought. 

          "Damnit. Tell me what's going on! What happened? Yu said you burst through the door and flew up the stairs." Ryoko slapped him across the face, hard. Finn took a stumbled back a few steps and shook his head. "Now will you tell me what's going on?" She sat down on the futon, and motioned for Finn to join her.

          "Alright, I'll tell you what happened." He sat down beside her and began his tale.

          "So this chick is after you then?" Ryoko asked.

          "I don't really know. She said something about we'd face each other in battle or something. That she'd 'prove' herself to me." Finn held his head in his hands. "Great, that's all we needed, some cross-dressing nutbar chick who hates all men 'cept for me. Why me? What I don't understand is why wouldn't she make some move to capture us."

          "Duh, moron. Don't you know what she's thinking? She's planning on killing you, and probably herself while she's at it," Ryoko answered.

"Great. Couldn't she get me a card or something?" Finn said sarcastically.

"Come on, its not so bad." Ryoko playfully smacked him in the head. "We're outta here in what, a matter of hours."

          "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about all this now." Finn raised his head. "Hey," he said after a few minutes of silence. "Shouldn't you be downstairs?"

          "What do you mean?" Ryoko asked.

          "It's only a few minutes passed…" Finn looked at his watch. "Midnight?"

          "Yeah, I got off late. You've been up here for over two hours."

          "But all I did was…"

          "Scribble in your notebook, right? Just a wild guess." 

Finn looked at his notebook and flipped through the pages he'd written in the last few hours. He kept flipping page after page.

          "I…it only seemed like a few minutes." He was baffled. "When you're studying, time moves faster. Very educational" He wrote down quickly. "Woops. Sorry." Seeing Ryoko's sweatdrop. 

          "Jiro? Reiko? Are you still up?" Yu's voice came softly through the door.

          "Yep. We're still up. Something wrong?" Finn asked opening the door.

          "Nothing's wrong. We'd just like to ask something from you two," Yu began.

          "We'd like to take your picture if that's ok with you," Mr. Noda finished.

          "Our picture?" they both asked in unison. 

          "Come out here." Mr. Noda motioned for them to come into the narrow hallway. "See these pictures here? All of them are young people who've worked here before. Before it was always one young man or woman who came. You're the first couple we've had here."

          "Ooookaay," Finn said slowly. "Where would you like to take it?"

          "Oh, not right now," Yu laughed. "We thought tomorrow morning just outside."

          "We've got something better planned for tonight." Mr. Noda produced a rather large bottle of sake from a bag.

**Lets All Get Drunk And Play Ping Pong!**

          "Oow." Finn groaned, holding his head. "I feel like they're accountants cranking adding machines in my head." The author provides a look inside Finn's cranial chamber. Two accountants sit there adding away.

          "You ever wonder what's outside those walls, Bill?" the one on the left asked.

          "Say now, that's dangerous thinking there, Paul. You'd best stick to your work," the one on the right replied. 

Finn slowly opened his eyes, but the light pouring unhindered through the window made his head pound even more. The strange pressure on his chest didn't help the situation. He felt around the edge of the futon for nothing in particular, but stopped when he came across a peculiar round object. 

          "Hey, what's this?" He gave it a squeeze. It was soft to the touch yet firm. 

          "Cut it out," Something stirred beside him and a mass of black hair emerged out from under the covers on top of him. "Ahh, my head." Ryoko fell back onto his chest holding her hands to her head. Finn began to put the pieces together. 

          'Up late. Sake. More sake. A lot more sake. I sense a recurring pattern here. What happened after that? Now I wake up with Ryoko laying on top of me.' The rusty gears in Finn's head began to turn. 'OH HOW VERY EDUCATIONAL!' 

Ryoko rolled off of him, apparently still in some state of sleep. He very carefully peeled back the duvet a little. Nothing but the bare skin of her back. He pulled the duvet down a little further. Still nothing. Ryoko's entire naked back was exposed. "No…clothes…on?" Quickly he checked himself. Fortunately for his sanity his Nergal standard issue boxer shorts were still where they were supposed to be. 'But still, this could get dangerous.' A little evil Finn appeared on Finn's left shoulder. 

          "Take advantage of the situation. Ryoko's laying naked and groggy right next to you," it said.

          "No, you mustn't. You should wake her and tell her what you think happened," A good Finn appeared on his right shoulder.

          "Don't listen to that goodie goodie." Evil Finn shoved Good Finn out of the way. "Go for it, man!"

          "No, you have to listen to the voice of good conscience," Good Finn shoved evil Finn away. Evil Finn whacked it on the head with his pitchfork.

          "There, now what he's out of the way. You'll love it. Come on." There was the sound of a gun firing and evil Finn fell over.

          "The bullet of justice caps evil's ass. Remember that." Good Finn said, blowing the wisp of smoke from the gun's barrel. Just then, a tiny police car drove across Finn's face. Another Finn got out.

          "Good Finn, you are under arrest for the murder of Evil Finn." Officer Finn said, handcuffing Good Finn. 

          "Oh well. See ya. La de de da da…" They got into the car and drove off. Finn blinked.

          'I hope drinking was all that I did,' He blinked. 

          For a long time Finn simply lay there trying not to pay attention to the jackhammer-like pounding of his head. He didn't think of anything in particular, such as what had actually transpired the previous night and their current state of undress.

          "Finn?" came a somewhat shaky voice from Ryoko, who still lay on her side with her back turned to him.

          "Hmm?" Finn turned his head to look at her.

          "What…what happened?" she said, her voice sounding very…

          'Scared?' thought Finn. That's what her voice sounded like. "You don't remember anything either?" he answered rhetorically. There was a sudden throb in his head that felt like someone hammering a nail into his skull.

          "Yeah." She rolled over onto her other side so she was facing Finn, making sure she was covered up. For a long time they lay there staring into each other's eyes. For the first time ever, Ryoko looked frightened. Finn slid his hand under the sheets and took hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Slowly their faces began to draw towards each other. Ryoko closed her eyes. Finn couldn't stop himself. He was just drawn to her lips by some unknown force stronger than any gravity blast. He could feel her breath on his face.

          "Beepbideep Beepbideep," the small clock mounted on the wall buzzed. Finn tried to ignore it, but the irritated sound of that buzzer coupled with the ever-increasing pounding between his temples overtook him. Ryoko sensed him pull away and opened her eyes. 

          "I was thinking," Ryoko said after a few minutes of silence passed between them. "You think…we should just stay here?"

          "I thought you hated being a waitress?" Finn grinned.

          "I'd find other employment," Ryoko informed him. "Just, do you think it would just be better to wait it out here?"

          "As much as I'd like to stay here and enjoy the peace and quiet," Finn sighed. "We can't."

          "Why not?" Ryoko asked, already knowing the answer.

          "Because we don't belong here. As much as I hate this to be the case, we can't stay here," Finn said regretfully. "We just don't belong here."

          "I guess we're better suited for the battlefield than for waiting tables and degreasing engines," Ryoko said sadly.

          "Yeah," Finn sighed again. "You ok?"

          "Yeah, I'll be fine." However, Ryoko's voice gave away the little part of her that was scared to death of something she didn't know.

          'What am I so afraid of?' she asked herself. 'One minute I feel like running away, the next I'm ready to kiss him?' "I'm going for shower," She announced, trying to sound her usual, confident self. She slipped into the old housecoat Yu had lent to her. Perhaps after a shower she would feel somewhat cleansed of the mysterious and unknown events that had transpired the previous evening. Finn threw on some clothes and wandered into a tiny room that served as the upstairs kitchen. 

          "Maybe I can still catch some of whatever Yu made for breakfast," he yawned. Sometimes Yu made too much for herself and Mr. Noda and offered whatever was left to Finn or Ryoko, who ever got to it first. 

Sliding the door open he saw Mr. Noda with a cup of tea in his hands reading the paper. "Morning," Finn yawned again, not realizing just how tired he was. It came out something more like 'mrngin'. 

          "Ah, nice to see you finally up," Mr. Noda said, glancing up from his paper. "Though, is a bit late to say good morning to you though."

          "Hmm?" Finn asked.

          "Its half past noon." Mr. Noda motioned to the clock on the microwave. "Granted you and Reiko were up fairly late," he laughed to himself.

          "Gah." Finn held his head.

          "Don't drink too often, eh lad?" Mr. Noda poured a cup of tea and slid it across the small table. "I'd offer you something stronger, but we're out,"

          "Not very." Finn slumped down in a chair and held the cup. From what Finn had been able to pick up about Jovian culture, coffee was perfectly acceptable. However, since the author finds it disgusting he's going to replace it with tea. And there's nothing you can do about it! Hahaha, dance puppets! Dance! * ahem * Moving on. 

The warmth felt good on his hands. 'I guess I don't drink that much.' He thought, when in actual fact the sake he had the previous evening was the first drink he'd ever had. Having been raised to be a lab rat, the scientists forbade him from touching even the smallest drop of alcohol. 'Oh yeah, now I remember. Possibility of unstable chemical interactions.' Finn's brain was slowly but surely recalibrating itself. "That's good," he said, taking a sip of hot tea. "Any…" He stopped when Mr. Noda slid a bowl of oatmeal. "Thanks."

          "Don't mention it." Mr. Noda turned back to his paper. " 'Sources from agents inside the Earth UF report that the two robot pilots what were pulled into leapgates at point 2957 are presumed dead. A small ceremony was held for them yesterday. The names of the two pilots are unknown to us at this time. However, since our forces have been unable to recover any bodies or robots belonging to the two pilots, it is still a mystery whether or not they are actually, in fact, dead.' What do you think of that?"

          "Wha? Oh, right." Finn's mind was busy on other matters.

          "Just between you and me, I think this whole war's a silly waste of time. Both sides are deadlocked. And since Earth is fighting on home turf, it gives them a bit of an edge," Mr. Noda said quietly. Finn guessed that living under the Jovian government was similar to living in Russia during the communist rule. Secret police and hidden listening devices everywhere.

          "Makes sense to me. You have to wonder about those pilots though. For all we know they could have hidden themselves in Jovian society!" Finn tried to laugh as best he could.

          "Yeah. Its like they show up on a colony and its like 'hmm, oh well. Might as well get used to it' and just go from there," Mr. Noda laughed. "Ah, you're too funny, Jiro. But personally, I think they may have just been shifted."

          "Shifted?" Finn asked puzzled. "Sorry, I don't read the paper that much," he added quickly noticing Mr. Noda's face that had one of those 'you don't know what it means?' kind of looks on it. 

          "Well, you see back in the days when they started to experiment with leaping there were quite a number of soldiers who entered the leap gates and never came back. They had lines in the pods so if anything went wrong they could just yank him out. But with a few the lines were severed. Not in the way that it was cut or anything like that, but just as though the end of the line had never existed," Mr. Noda explained.

          "Did they ever find the missing soldiers?" asked Finn, taking another sip of tea.

          "Nope. When they first started leaping the main problem was that the pod would come out the other end crushed like a piece of tin foil. It was once they began to fiddle with the DNA that shifting started."

          "Oh ok. I get it now. Kind like they got lost somewhere in between chuli…I mean gates." Finn added.

          "Exactly." Mr. Noda went back to his paper, ending their conversation. Finn dug into the bowl of oatmeal in front of him. 

          'Good thing they kept weekends the same,' Finn thought. When he finished his breakfast and downed the last of his tea, Finn returned to their room. Ryoko had just finished dressing. "There's some breakfast in the kitchen if you want," Finn said, taking his towel off the hook on the door.

          "K," Ryoko replied. Finn gave a reassuring smile.

          "About last night…"

          "Don't worry about it," she said. 

          Finn emerged from the steamy bathroom a little while later and dressed in the only clothes he had and considered his, the blue shirt and beige pants they had given him at the hospital. Ryoko had somehow read his mind and was wearing her yellow sundress. When he went downstairs they were all waiting for him. Finn stood beside Ryoko with his arm around her. The camera Mr. Noda was using was very old, 'an antique', Yu had said once. It was something their ancestors from the Moon brought with them. Mr. Noda took three pictures of them with his old instant camera. He handed one to Finn, one to Ryoko. And tucked the last one in an envelope to be taken to be blown up and cheaply framed like the other pictures hanging in the upstairs hall.

**3, 2, 1, Let's Jam**

          The day progressed as weekends usually did, even though this was only their second weekend since landing here. Finn and Ryoko wandered aimlessly around town all afternoon, and in the evening Ryoko waited tables downstairs. Finn had slipped out the back door soon after her shift began. It wasn't until a little after the dinner rush around 10 o'clock that he returned.

          "Have an interesting day?" Yu asked when Finn walked in the back door.

          "What makes you say that?" Finn asked, puzzled. 

          "That grin on your face. There's no mistaking it. You've got something planned," Yu replied. 

          "Oh. Yeah, you could say its something like that." Finn heard Mr. Noda laugh at something. "Stop that!"

          "Whatever you say." Mr. Noda went back to whatever he was doing. Finn went upstairs.

          "Gugh, I smell like a bowl of noodles," Ryoko complained as she entered their room. 

          "Nah, its more like old miso than noodles," Finn laughed. Ryoko mock punched him in the face. "Everything's ready," he added quietly. 

          "What do you mean?" Ryoko asked in a whisper. "What exactly did you do?" Finn had not actually told Ryoko anything in great detail. All she knew was that they were leaving and soon.

          "Meet me at the airlock by the hospital at 9:00. Have my suit with you. And wear something that's comfortable in a spacesuit," he whispered in her ear.

          "What do you think you're doing?" they heard Yu say from downstairs. They pulled away from each other and pressed their ears against the door. "What makes you think you can just barge in here and…" She was cutoff by someone who's voice Finn and Ryoko could only hear faintly through the door.

          "We have reason to believe Earth spies have infiltrated security. Orders have been given to bring those known as Jiro Amada and Reiko Urashima/Amada into our custody for questioning," came the reply.

          "Those two? What have they done?" Mr. Noda demanded.

          "That is none of your concern. All you need to know is that they do not exist in our records. From the rent application you submitted to us, neither or their names or history came up," the man who was obviously some kind of security officer answered. They heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs.

          "Oooh crap," Finn sighed as he got up quickly. "Lock the door," he said as he picked up the bag he had packing and withdrew two items from it. "We need to get out of here," he said, loading one of the guns he had grabbed from the bag, and tossing one to Ryoko.

          "Where did you get these?" Ryoko asked, tucking it into the waist of her the jeans she was wearing.

          "My frame. Come on," he said as he threw the pack over his shoulder. He slid open the window and slipped out. "Come on." He said from the fire escape. Ryoko crawled through the opening and out into the night just as someone was beginning to work the door handle.

          "Jiro Amada. We request that you come with us voluntarily. If you do we can guarantee your safety!" a voice boomed through the door. Finn pulled the window back down silently from outside and motioned for Ryoko to be very quiet. He jumped down from the second floor platform of the fire escape, Ryoko followed.

          "Only two guys outside. Just act as though everything's normal." Finn whispered, taking Ryoko's hand and gingerly walking into plain view of the two, armed soldiers standing at the entrance to the shop. They took a brief glance in their direction but didn't do anything. Once they had reached the end of the street and turned a corner they began to run.

          "I was really hoping it wouldn't come down to this," Finn said, rounding a corner and cutting down an alley. 

          "How the hell did they find us? How'd they even know we were here?" Ryoko asked.

          "Mr. Noda mentioned something about having to submit some papers for having us live there. That's why I wanted us to get out of here tomorrow. I was hoping that they wouldn't have gone through the papers this quickly. Shit!" He came to a halt, and since he was still grasping Ryoko's arm, she had no choice but to stop as well.

          "What?" She asked. Finn looked around.

          "Here." He pulled her and squeezed into a small space between the wall of a building and a dumpster. Ryoko followed him.

          "Just what the fuck are you doing?" she hissed.

          "Shh." He put his hand over Ryoko's mouth. "Just hold on a sec." The sound of a car approaching became faintly audible. From their hiding place they could see a searchlight, coming from a window of the car, scanning the alley.

          "Gee, you think they're onto us?" Ryoko whispered sarcastically. 

          "Come on, come on. Keep going," Finn's heart stopped momentarily when the car came to a stop right in front of the dumpster. They both fell silent and motionless. 

          "Alright. I see you there," came a voice from in front of them. Neither of them moved. "Come on buddy. Nap times over." 

          "Ugh." Something stirred from inside the dumpster.

          "Alright. You know the drill," The officer said to whatever climbed out and was standing before him. "Have you been drinking any alcoholic beverages this evening?"

          "Nothing. She wouldn't even give me a cookie," said a raspy voice between coughs. 

          "Have you been using any drugs?" the officer asked.

          "Nothing. Then this lady came and took all of my blood," the garbage dweller answered.

          "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." Something fell onto the ground, not far from where Finn and Ryoko were hiding. "What's this?" He bent over and for a split second, Finn could see the fat officer picking up a small slip of paper. "Blood drive?"

          "They had a quota. They wouldn't even give me a cookie," the not-so-crazy person answered.

          "I'm still going to have to ask you to come with me." The sound of feet shuffling on the cold pavement and the car's doors slamming shut could be heard. They watched as the car went down the alley and pulled onto the street. When the taillights disappeared around the corner, Finn started breathing again.

          "Alright, lets keep going," he said after a few minutes had passed. They both got up and began their marathon.

          "This isn't the way to the airlock," Ryoko said as when they stopped outside the back of another building. "It looks like the back of the garage."

          "Exactly." Finn fumbled with the back door's handle.

          "I take it you don't have a key." Ryoko looked at him.

          "No. I thought I'd left this door open when I was here earlier. Come on you." Finn continued to struggle with the uncooperative lock.

          "Stand aside." Ryoko said. Finn stood back and watched as Ryoko brought the door down with one swift kick.

          "I take it discretion doesn't appeal to you," Finn sweatdropped.

          "Go with what works. Come on." Ryoko pulled him into the building. Fortunately Sam had left a few lights on. "So where's this suit of yours?" Ryoko asked, having figured out Finn's clever, though obvious plan.

          "It should be in this locker." Finn walked down a line of lockers, finally stopping at one. Ryoko picked up a crowbar and pried the door open. "What the…" The locker was empty. 

          "Oh great." Ryoko looked around.

          "Let me see something." Finn took the crowbar and opened locker after locker as though they were cans of tuna fish. "Empty, everyone of them." He began searching the entire establishment, in cabinets, on top of lockers, under benches. No stone was left unturned. However, the tree of his search bore no fruit. "But…it was here. I remember this scratch in the door," Finn said, returning to the first locker. "Aww shit. What are we going to do now? Everything depended on that suit being here." He sat down on the bench and thought. 

          "You have your suit, right?" Ryoko asked after a few minutes.

          "Yeah," Finn said, looking up at her. "Right here." He tapped the pack on his back.

          "Then you get out of here. I'll distract them long enough for you to get out," Ryoko said in one of those self-sacrificing tones of voice.

          "Not an option." Finn stood up. 

          "But that way at least one of us would…" 

          "Nuh uh," Finn interrupted. 

          "But…" Finn put his hand over Ryoko's mouth.

          "Look, if I thought deserting you was an option I'd have been gone long ago. But that's something I am not, and never will be prepared to do," Finn said her sternly.

          "But we can't let both of us to be caught," Ryoko protested. "The Nadisco needs us. And getting one of us back is better than nothing,"

          "I can't. I can't leave you. Don't you get it? I'm not doing this because it would make the Nadesico more powerful. I'm not doing this so for a medal. And I'm not doing this because it will protect the Earth. I'm doing this because I… because I…" Finn struggled. All of a sudden the main doors of the garage squealed as they began to open. Finn grabbed Ryoko and hid behind a pile of junk not far from the backdoor.

          "Alright men. Search the premises. Look for anything incriminating," They heard a voice a call out. The sound of feet moving through the garage became audible.

          "If that don't take the chrome plated cookie," Finn whispered. The sounds of footsteps were coming closer. "I got it. Get ready to bolt in a sec." He picked up a screwdriver off the floor right where they were sitting. Fortunately for them the police had not found the light switch. "3…2…1…" Finn counted down and threw the screwdriver as hard as he could towards the opposite end of the building. "Now!" he said just as the flying tool landed with a loud crash. They slipped out the backdoor.

          "Wait a sec." Ryoko paused as she carefully closed the door.

          "What? Come on, we need to get going." Finn said a few steps ahead.

          "Give me a hand here." She began to push at a heavy piece of scrap metal placed on wooden skis. "If we block the door, they won't know we came out this way, and then they won't search back here." Finn began to push the piece of scrap with all his might. It budged a few centimeters.

          "Come on," Finn groaned. "Keep going," he said, referring to the scrap and pushing. Ryoko pushed beside him. 

          "Aaaaand there," she said as they slid the scrap in front of the door. "Where to next?"

          "This way." Finn grabbed her wrist and took off in the general direction of the airlock. There were police cars everywhere. They were on the streets, in parking lots, down alleys. Not to mention officers stopping everyone in sight asking them for identification papers. "Ok, it's just past that building there. Then there's a tunnel that circles along between the inner wall and the outside We just need to get to that door over there," Finn said, crouching behind a bush just outside the hospital.

          "There's too many soldiers. And we can't pull that 'we're just ordinary people' stunt again. What we need is…" Ryoko began.

          "A distraction. I forgot." Finn dug into the backpack and retrieved what looked like a cell phone. "My original plan was to blow up a drone shuttle leaving the colony and use that to slip away with a spare suit. But this'll do nicely." He punched in a series of numbers on the phone-like device. "Aaaaaand…now." He pressed the final button. A bright flash of light could be seen in the distance, followed a few seconds later by the loud shockwave of the explosion. From their seats between a bush and the outside of the hospital, they saw all policemen stop and stare at the fireball the erupted from docked, unmanned shuttle. "Lets go." 

"I'd ask where you got the bombs but I think I have an idea." They moved quickly and in the confusion were able get to the inner wall of the colony without being stopped. From that point on it was clear sailing. Or so they hoped. 

          "I hope you have some sort of plan." Ryoko was breathing heavily after all their running.

          "Yeah, I hope so to." Finn heaved, standing beside a vending machine.

          "I'm just going to grab a bag of chips," came a voice from around the corner. There were four tunnels running around the edge of the colony. There was a water service tunnel just inside the inner wall, an electric cable tunnel next, a fuel pipeline tunnel after that, and finally the air sealant tunnel designed as a second wall in case of punctures in the outer wall. They were currently in a small room between the fuel pipeline tunnel and the air sealant. "What the, who are you?" The man raised his rifle.

          "I…." Finn stammered.

          "I was just out for a walk with my husband here and we thought we'd take a little break back here," Ryoko said, grabbing Finn's hand.

          "You know this area is off limits to civilians," the soldier said.

          "Then why was the door open?" Finn asked.

          "Well, its not supposed to be. Come on, I'll escort you out." The soldier led the way.

          "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ryoko asked.

          "Yeah, lets push him down the steps," Finn whispered back.

          "No, idiot. What he's wearing." She pointed Finn to the suit the soldier was wearing.

          "Hey, why are you wearing a spacesuit?" Finn asked offhandedly.

          "We're on a state of alert. Two Earth spies slipped through security. We're supposed to make sure they don't make a run for it," the soldier answered.

          "That's just what I wanted to hear," Finn grinned.

          "What do you mean by gah…" The soldier fell backwards as Ryoko removed her fist from his face.

          "I was just going to try hitting him on the back of the head with my gun. But hey, go with what works," Finn said, kneeling on the floor and making the bulky suit off the man. "Here, I know its not your colour, but put it on."

          "What's the idea?" Ryoko asked when she noticed Finn had pulled his suit out and was getting into it.

          "Put your helmet on so they can't see your face. And pick up his gun," Finn said, clicking his helmet into place. "Try and sound like a man and just follow my lead." Finn moved back to the vending machines and looked around the corner. Sure enough, there was the one inept soldier, standing in front of the door holding his gun.

          "Soldier!" Finn said in a deep voice, coming around the corner into plain view. The soldier jumped and aimed his gun at Finn, who motioned for Ryoko to follow.

          "Name and rank, please," the inept soldier demanded.

          "Colonel Rhikto, Jovain Secret Police," Finn answered.

          "Sir!" The inept soldier lowered his gun, stood up straight, and saluted Finn, who was trying not to laugh. "Orders sir!"

          "Hello soldier. Who's this?" a man in uniform came up to them.

          "Name and rank please," the soldier asked the newcomer.

          "Since you're only a private I'll let that one go," the man said.

          "What do you mean?" The soldier asked.

          "You don't demand rank of a superior officer. I am Colonel Rhikto of Dustron security," Colonel Rhikto said.

          'Aawwww shiiiiit,' Finn thought.

          "Now who is this person here?" The Colonel directed his question at Finn.

          "I….er…." The gears in Finn's head were working overtime. 

          "Sir, he claims he is Colonel Rhikto, Secret Police." The soldier informed them.

          "Impersonating an officer is a serious offence. Remove your helmet and tell me your name!" The Colonel demanded. 

          'Here goes.' Finn thought. "Well sir, we just wanted." Finn looked around, making sure there was no one else in sight, and delivered a quick punch to the Colonel's face. "To say goodnight." The Colonel dropped to the floor.

          "Nighty night." Ryoko said as she bashed the butt her gun on the gawking soldier's head. "Is that all you could think of?"

          "Says the woman who'd rather blow things up than touch a bowl of ramen," Finn came back. All of a sudden, Finn flew back a few steps and fell with smoke rising from his body.

          "Finn!" Ryoko cried.

          "Thought one hit on the head would get me eh?" the soldier said, getting up. "Us troops aren't like those weak officers. Hands up." He aimed his gun at Ryoko, who just stood there, staring at Finn's body. "I said hands up." Ryoko, realizing there'd be no point in resisting, dropped her gun and put her hands behind her head. "Come on, this way. I'll send a janitor to clean up this mess." The guard fell silent as someone grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. "What the hell?"

          "Oowww. That felt like a donkey kick," Finn said, holding his gun against the guard's head. "You're lucky I like to use 22s. Would you like to know why?

          "Why's that?" the guard asked, his voice trembling.

          "Because," Finn said irritated. "The bullets are small and they don't come out the other end like a 45. You see, a 45 will blow a barn door out the back of your head, and there's a lot of dry cleaning involved. But a 22 will just…rattle around like Pac-man. You know, until you die. Now drop your weapon and get the hell out of my sight," he commanded. The guard did something that surprised them. There was a horrendous crack as the guard twisted his arm out of Finn's grasp, and breaking it in the process. With his free hand he opened fire on Finn, who was pushed down to the ground due to the shear force of the bullets. The guard stopped when Finn stopped moving.

          "Get a move on," he said, motioning to the door with the barrel of his gun. His left arm hung grotesquely at his side. Ryoko, who had been in a kind of shock after seeing Finn rise from the dead once, had forgotten to pick up her gun. "Move it!" Ryoko complied, but stopped when the only noise behind here was a loud crack followed by a thud. 

          "But…wha….how?" Ryoko stammered seeing Finn sitting up holding the smoking gun. 

          "What? You don't think they'd have made me a suit of armour like this one without making it bulletproof," Finn laughed from behind his mask. 

          "You…I oughta…" Ryoko came toward him, her hand balled into a fist.

          "Wowwowwow. Hold on a sec. You can beat the shit out of me later. Right now, we have to move," Finn grabbed her hand and began to hit commands into the air lock's computer. Behind them, the soldier groaned.

          "Don't worry," Ryoko said holding her weapon. "I'll take care of him, you work on the door,"

          "Wait," Finn pushed Ryoko's gun down. "Just let him be,"

          "Do you know what you're doing?"

          "I don't like killing very much, and seeing a man's blood only adds to my discomfort. He's down, let's just leave it at that," 

          "And what about the lock?"

          "Not really. But it worked the last time," Finn replied. "Ok, that should do it. Get in." Finn pulled her into the first air lock.

          "Depressurizing room," the computer said. Ryoko could feel the suit press against her body as the room depressurized. "Proceed to next section please." They moved into the next chamber, where a heavy door opened into the outside.

          "Good, it's still dark out." Finn said, stepping outside. He turned on a light attached to his helmet. "This way, follow the tracks."

          "I'm surprised," Ryoko snickered.

          "At what?" Finn asked.

          "That you had a plan." Ryoko answered with a laugh. She stopped when he didn't respond. "That was planned…wasn't it?"

          "Um…." 

          "What the hell were you thinking then?" Ryoko demanded.

          "Well, my original plan was to have you put on this suit, go to my frame and pilot it manually out of here." Finn began.

          "And what about you?" 

          "I hadn't thought that far ahead. But I think I was going to stay behind,"

          "You…why would you think that I'd…" Ryoko began, put stopped when Finn pushed her against the dark outer wall of the colony.

          "Shh," Finn motioned for her to look up. She did, and saw a few grasshoppers flying overhead. "Stay within the colony's shadow. If there's no light on us they won't see us," he said, clicking off the light on his helmet. They proceeded this way for quite some time. All the while grasshoppers floated overhead, just waiting for something to happen. Then suddenly, Finn stopped. "They're right over there," he whispered, pointing to what appeared to be the moon's bare surface. 

          "I don't see anything," Ryoko said, trying to find any sign that their frames were anywhere to be seen.

          "Exactly. You wait here." Finn then darted out into the open. The five or six grasshoppers overhead all turned their sights on Finn. "Nu uh. Not going to get me." Finn sprinted as best he could in the low gravity. "Damn. I forgot there's no simulated gravity out here!" He was knocked high into the air (figure of speechwise). Drawing his gun as he began to fall back down, he fired at his metallic nemesis. "Oh crap. I forgot these things have distortion fields. Time for plan B." From Ryoko's vantage point it looked as though Finn were about to dive head first into solid rock. But he didn't. Ryoko's mouth hung open as Finn just seemed to disappear into the moon's surface. A few seconds later the ACF rose from the ground, sending out a great cloud of lunar dust. The massive robot simply swatted the grasshoppers out of the sky, hurling them off into space. It then knelt in front of Ryoko and a hatch opened in its chest plate. She didn't need instructions on what to do next and climbed into the cramped cockpit.

          "Hey, watch where you're grabbing there," Ryoko cried when she felt her rear end hit something. 

          "Its not my fault. I can't see anything!" Finn shot back. "I know it's cramped, but take that thing off." Ryoko got out of the suit and shoved it into a storage compartment above the seat. 

          "Where's my seat?" she asked, looking around the cockpit, which was obviously designed for one person. Unlike the aestivalis cockpit, there weren't any spaces beside the pilot's seat where passengers could sit. Finn looked at her. "You mean…" She pointed at his lap."

          "Afraid so," he said. "Come on."  Ryoko mock-reluctantly sat down in Finn's lap. 

"You could at least take off that ridiculous helmet. You look like something out of that old Transformers show," she said. "Hey! Watch where you put your hands!" She cried as Finn fumbled with the restraints.

"Hey, its not my fault!" Finn defended himself. "Just click these two parts together." He handed her the two shoulder and waist restraints. She clicked them into place. Finn plugged his hands into two open slots in front of them.

"Don't you need me to move so you can see?" she asked after they had taken off.

"No need. Its all in here," He tapped the faceplate of his helmet. "Heads-up display. That main monitor's just incase something goes wrong." 

"Hey, what's that noise?" She asked.

"Transforming. We're invisible to sensors now…I hope." Finn replied.

"Just out of curiosity." Ryoko said as she watched the surface of dusty grow distant. "Why didn't you finish him off?

"I never liked violence that much, and the sight of blood makes me kind of faint," Finn replied.

"But you'll kill on the battlefield,"

"Hey, if I had it my way I wouldn't have to kill there either. Just because I will kill doesn't mean I have to like it," Finn replied.

"Um…just out of curiosity, where's my aesti?" Finn flipped a side monitor to the rear camera and made it swing forward. There was Ryoko's frame, painted black and strapped to the bottom of the ACF. "My…my paint job…"

"Small price to pay. I considered blowing it up but…" Finn flipped the monitor back to front view.

"You knew I'd turn you into a fresh canned Finn surprise," Ryoko finished.

"Bingo." 

"Just where are we headed anyway?"

"Questions questions questions." Finn shook his head. "Here." A small window popped up, showing a still image of a moon surrounded by chulips. "It's about a day's flight."

"Lets get moving then. Crank up those after burners!" 

"You asked for it." Finn grinned behind his mask as he punched up the throttle. He felt Ryoko's weight press against him as she was forced back by the sudden acceleration. 

"Damnit!" Ryoko tried to sound mad. "You…you bastard." she laughed. 

**Reentry**

          "Destination approaching," a voice beeped inside the cramped cockpit. "Begin prebattle checklists. Weapon systems on automatic. Targeting systems recalibrating."

          "Wha?" Ryoko was drawn out of her little nap. She didn't know just how long she had been asleep, or even exactly what was going on for that matter.

          "Allrighty. Time to get to work." Finn tried not to sound like he was just rolling out of bed, but couldn't stifle his yawn.

          "How far is it?" Ryoko asked.

          "About ten thousand kilometers along this axis." Finn popped a window up on the main monitor. It showed a ball, which was labeled Europa, surrounded by dozens of interconnected chulip openings. 

          "This must be where they deploy ships to send to Earth," Ryoko concluded, staring at all the open chulips. 

          "Must be." Finn studied the pictures from behind his mask. "Problem is which one is our ride home? They said they'd be launching from what…alpha, omega, and zeta. But which ones are those?"

          "You mean you didn't find that out?!"

          "I was very busy!" Finn defended himself. "I see grasshoppers going into six of them. The rest seem to be on standby or something," he added quickly. A little red light began blinking at the bottom of his screens. "What the…?"

          "What's that mean?" Ryoko studied the scanner screen that came up.

          "Busted," Finn said in a worried tone.

          "What do you mean 'busted'?" Ryoko demanded.

          "I mean, shit. They know where we are." Finn brought the transformed ACF to a halt.

          "How? I thought you said this thing was invisible to scanners." Ryoko watched as a series of red blips appeared on screen and came to a stop just in front of them.

          "I think I have an idea." Finn ran a surface scan to search for impurities on his hull. "I was afraid of this."

          "What's that mean?" Ryoko demanded. "Damnit! Tell me what's going on!" Finn closed all the windows on the main monitor. From the outside ten dimojin robots were floating in a V formation right in front of them, a small squadron of grasshoppers behind them and more coming to join the party.

          "Surface impurity scan complete," Finn read. "Detected foreign object 4.35cm from starboard exhaust vent." The ACF shook slightly as Finn activated a charge that ran through its hull. The small transmitter at the rear of the ship blew off like a popcorn seed in a microwave. "I've really got to hand it to you. You really know how to piss me off," Finn answered the little yellow light blinking in the corner of his screens.

          "And I've got to hand it to you. I didn't think you'd make it this far." Sano/Sakura's face appeared in a small window.

"I take it you were the one who arranged that little shindig on Dusty then. Man, can't you come up with something more original? You're acting like a villain from that stupid Gekigengar cartoon or something!" Finn hit his retro thrusters and the ACF shot back several hundred meters.

"That's no use. We've already got a laser lock on you." Sano seemed to ignore Finn's ranting.

          "Well ain't that just prime. What do you want?" Finn demanded impatiently. "I'm kind of in a hurry. And just who is it am I talking to? Sakura or Sanoske?"

          "It's Sanoske now," Sano cleared his throat. "You and your passenger are under arrest. Surrender your craft and we will not harm you," he said, opening the communications link to Sanoske's fellow pilots. "You have my word as an officer of the Jovian Superior Male Elite squadron of the second fleet."

          "Standard give up and surrender? Sorry, I don't really feel like going to jail today. I'm getting bored. What do you want?" Finn demanded again impatiently.

          "To fight you, of course. To have a duel on the field of battle," Sano said dramatically.

          "Uh huh," Finn transformed the ACF. "Under what terms?"

          "If I win I get to do whatever I want with you. And I mean anything. If I lose, my men have been instructed to stand back and let you do what you wish, as long as it does not pose a threat to our command centre or leap gate facilities," Sano said. The dimojin was different from the one Finn faced on the moon. It was bigger, not by much, but it looked as though it could pose a bit of a threat.

          "One condition. If I lose, my passenger gets safe passage to Earth," Finn said, referring of course to Ryoko.

          "Then it's agreed." The dimojin stuck out one of its massive hands. "May the best man win." Finn grabbed the hand and shook it.

          "Thanks." Finn grinned as he spun the dimojin around and threw him over his shoulders. He then cranked up the engines and made a run for the chulips. "Hold on tight. Catch a tiger by the toe…" He told Ryoko, who had her hands pushing against the roof of the cockpit to keep herself from being thrown around. "Damn. I can't maneuver with your aesti." He ejected the black aestivalis and sent it hurling into one of the chulips. "Mo." He settled on which one he would make a run for. Just then the ACF shook violently as it was struck by a gravity blast, which was partially absorbed by the distortion field.

          "Oh no you don't. I'm not letting you get away that easily!" Sano grabbed the ACF by the leg. Finn countered with a swift kick to the side of his opponent's head and when he was released and continued towards the chulip. However, during his momentary distraction, the nine other dimojins had placed themselves between the two combatants and the chulips. 

          "Oh give me a break. You're really pissing me off." Finn brought his gattling cannon to his shoulder and brought it online and fired without hesitation. A torrent of blue blasts burst from the multi-barreled cannon. His target evaded the first wave but was caught off guard when Finn followed spraying plasma blasts at it. The dimojin leapt and reappeared right behind him.

          "Gotcha!" Sano shouted triumphantly as she pinned the ACF against herself. Finn struggled. "We've upgraded since our last tangle. Reinforced shoulder locking mechanism." Finn had a light bulb. He brought the massive engine on the back of the gattling cannon online and cranked it up. The sudden force didn't perturb the Jovian machine. "It's no use. Give up now." 

          "Oooooh no its not," Finn grunted and forced the engine even harder. He was now flying with the dimojin stuck to his back. "Just a little further." The sudden heat from the engines began to kick in. The dimojin's chest plate began to turn soft.

          "You slippery little." Sano hit some controls on her end. The cavity in her robot opened and unleashed a pointblank gravity blast right into Finn's back. The force of the blast sent Finn spiraling off towards the moon.

The ACF shuddered violently. Finn cried out as the kickback from the control's shocked him. 

          "Ooh ok. Now I'm really pissed." Finn lowered the ACF's hand guards (think those things that appear on the end of the aestivalis hands when they punch something) and flew right at Sano. Finn placed his feet on Sano's chest place and gave it a hard kick. Sano's machine shuddered. Finn took that opportunity to then tear the left arm clean off the dimojin. He then gave the dimojin another kick, this time in the face and pushed free. "K, I've beaten you. Now stand down so I can get the fuck out of here."

          "Not yet," Sano's face once again appeared in Finn's cockpit. "Not until you destroy me."

          "But…hey! You know I won't kill you!" Finn yelled.

          "Exactly!" Sano laughed and retracted the dimojin's fingers. In their place, a long edged blade extended out. Sano thrust towards Finn and slashed. Finn blocked with his armoured knuckles. Sano slashed repeatedly, and Finn countered, most of the time. The force of Sano's slashes and the speed at which they came at him were proving to be a problem. Finn had taken hits on the shoulders and chest. With each blow the frame shook and groaned under the pressure. 

          "You ok?" Finn remembered Ryoko sitting in his lap.

          "Yeah, just hurry this up," Ryoko replied. "Look out to your left." 

          "Wha? Whoa shit!" Finn evaded just in time. He had another light bulb. He switched the monitor to rear view. "Ryoko, I need you to be the eyes in the back of my head."

          "What?!" Ryoko asked.

          "I need to know where the chulips are as I'm fighting so I don't stray too far away. I need you to tell me which direction they're in as I fight so I can double back." Finn said, delivering a quick punch to Sano's stomach plate, causing a large dent in the machine's armour.

          "Ok, got it." Ryoko kept one hand on the manual controls. "Try and lure him back to point 054." 

          "Got it. Yowch!" the ACF shuddered as another gravity blast from Sano was absorbed by his hull, sending pieces of the frame's back flying off into space. 

          "I thought she had something for you!" Ryoko braced herself as the frame shook again.

          "Damnit. Its not my fault she's nuts!" Finn cried evading another attack. 

          "She's open. Go for the left leg." Ryoko said.

          "Roger that." Finn fired at the leg, blowing it clean off. "Look Sakura…Sanoske. Whatever. Give it up already!" 

          "You won't beat me!" she screamed at him. 

          "Oh man, give me a break. She doesn't know whether to kill your or kiss you," Ryoko said.

          "Wha? Waoh!" There was a loud screech of metal grinding against metal. "Damn, she's punctured the upper chest."

          "Your left arm is inoperable," Ryoko informed him.

          "This is getting us nowhere." Finn said, breathing heavily. "I have an idea. Take manual control of this frame." A digital control stick appeared out of the control console. "You do know how to fly a standard fighter right?"

          "Don't insult my intelligence," Ryoko shot back.

          "Take us as close as you can to those other dimojins without them getting suspicious," Finn said. He plugged his hands into the IFS control plugs again. There was a gentle shake as the MAF detached from the back. Finn grit his teeth from behind his mask. The sudden appearance of a second frame seemed to confuse Sano.

          "You're supposed to fight alone," Sano said, sounding very irritated.

          "Consider it a tag team. And it's not technically cheating, I'm the only one actually fighting you," Finn replied as he fired low powered bursts from the ACF's cannons. 

          "Her distortion field has shattered," Ryoko said.

          "Perfect." Finn removed one of the blades from the transformed MAF's wrist and held it its hand. "Have to do this right." Sano made a futile swing with her blade, but Finn dodged easily. In one quick, clean slice, he severed the dimojin's head (which contains the cockpit). "Its over."

          "I'm not dead yet! So its not over!" Sano screamed. Finn picked up the floating dimojin head with the MAF's hands. 

          "Its over." He booted it away towards the planet. "Let us pass!" He shouted at the nine remaining dimojins. "Oh for booting up cold. Ryoko, close your eyes." The MAF fired a small grenade-like object into the cluster of robots. It exploded with a violently bright flash of light. "Move us into the chulip third from the right." He ordered quickly. Ryoko moved the damaged frame under the confused dimojin robots. 

          "Almost there." Ryoko said to herself. However, a few hundred meters before they made contact with the chulip's jump field, the frame shuddered once more. "Damn, the engines are down!"

          "All of them?!" Finn asked, trying to weave past missiles the grasshoppers were firing at the MAF.

          "We're drifting off course. Wow!" Ryoko could feel Finn's body shake from the jolt of energy sparking the computer system. Finally the MAF frame had caught up with them. "Grab my hand!" She could see the MAF's outstretched hand and fumbled with the controls and managed to grasp it.

          "Alright, take us out of here." Ryoko locked her commands into the computer.

          "Can't. We're too heavy for me to carry us off. MAF's built for speed, not towing." Finn said. With his spare hand he took one of the massive cannons off his legs.

          "You mean we're stuck here?" Ryoko asked.

          "Not quite. Hold on," A yellow light began to grow at the tip of the cannon. "We're just going to sit here."

"We're going to do what?!"

"Just trust me," Finn said. The dimojins had regained their senses and were beginning to fly closer to them. Both frames shook as grasshopper missiles bounced off the MAF's distortion field, and the ACF's battered hull. "Come on. 50…55…63…that's enough." He pulled the trigger and fired a wide wave blast. With engines no to counter the massive force of the blast, Finn and Ryoko were sent flying into a chulip. 

          "Sir! They have entered leap gate Tango. Should we pursue?" One of the dimojin pilots asked.

          "Damnit! Get me a new robot. I'm going after him! Even if I have to leap across this whole solar system to do it!" Sano screamed. "What the hell?" She watched, at a safe distance, from her spot floating high above Europa as the blastwave caught up with the group of dimojins. They vaporized, along with the grasshoppers, in a brilliant wave of yellow light. However, the blasewave did not stop there. From a distance it looked like a yellow pinprick hit that icy moon. The moon seemed to just dissolve in a cloud of steam as the intense head ripped right through the miles of ice that covered its surface. 

          "Um….Finn?" Ryoko asked as they floated through subspace within the chulip.

          "Yes, Ryoko?" Finn said triumphantly.

          "Where the fuck are we?" she asked.

…To be continued in Act 4

                             **End of Act 3**


	4. Enter the Pilot: Act 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

-by CdnShockwave

**Act 4**

**Where Are We?**

          "Ooowww," Finn groaned. 'I'm getting sick of this waking up and feeling like I was just hit by a truck thing,' he thought. 'What's going on? Where am I?' Slowly he opened his eyes. He could see nothing, just blackness everywhere. He tried to move, but something held him against his seat.  'What's this?' He touched the weight on top of him. 

          "Just five more minutes, Yu. I'll be right down," someone murmured. 

          'Ryoko? What's she doing here? What's going on?' Finn's mind raced. "Ryoko?" he said, trying to pull himself together.

          "Just a few more minutes," Ryoko murmured in her sleep. 

          "Ryoko. Wake up." He nudged her, and felt her stir. There was a loud thump.

          "Ooowww." Ryoko held her head.  "Where am I?" she asked, alarmed by the darkness.

          "Calm down," Finn said. 

          "Finn?" Ryoko was fully awake now. "Where are you?" He felt her feel around the inside of the cockpit. 

          "Take a wild guess." He could feel Ryoko touch his arm. 

          "Why is it so dark in here?" She asked, taking a long, deep breath. 

          "Beats me."

"Then why not bring the systems online?" she asked in a 'what kind of idiot are you?' kind of voice. Finn felt for the plugs and shoved his hands into them. Nothing happened. 

"Nothing. It's dead."

          "You mean we're stuck here then?"

          "Not necessarily," Finn said. "We have two options. One, we could try getting the backup power grid up and running. Two, we could try ejecting."

          "Number one sounds better to me."

          "Somehow I thought you might," he replied. 

          "So what do we do?" she asked after Finn failed to say anything.

          "Wha? Oh right." He was getting a little too used to Ryoko's body against his. "Feel right above us, you should feel a glass panel." He could hear Ryoko feeling around the roof of the cockpit.

          "This?" She tapped her fingers against something.

          "That sounds like it. Punch it as hard as you can. There's a button on the inside that should give us power," Finn explained, stressing the word 'should'.

          "What do you mean 'should'?" Ryoko demanded.

          "Well…you see…"

          "Damnit. Spill it." 

          "Alright. When we tested it, it had a tendency to…well…not work," Finn said.

          "Great," She said sarcastically. 

          "Just give it a try," Finn told her. There was a sharp crack as Ryoko's fist shattered the breakaway glass and hit the switch beneath. Nothing happened. "Ooooh crap."

          "Work you hunk of tin!" Ryoko gave the monitor a quick, but hard, smack. The screen fizzled to life and the control panel began to light up. However, the image it displayed didn't help their moral much. It was pure white. It was the same with most of the side monitors, with the exception of the bottom right; it showed a mix of white and swirling gray. "Oh, come on! Give me a break! We've been shot at, crushed, smashed, mulched, teleported, crashed, and you mean to tell me you're broken?!" 

          "Wait a sec." Finn tried to control the ACF through his IFS. It didn't budge. "My IFS link is down. Do you see the control stick there?"

          "Yes," Ryoko replied.

          "There should be a green button along the panel just to the right of that. Hit it. It will clear whatever's covering the monitor. That is, if its not broken." 

          "Gee, you're such an optimist. Alright, here goes." She pushed the button. The grainy white image began to clear a little. The outside became clearer. "Snow?"

          "Well, at least we know we're not floating off in space," Finn said. "Check the atmospheric composition. The command is A-7230." Ryoko typed in the command and a window popped up. "What's it say? I'm not getting anything in here with the IFS down."

          "It says outside's made of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and trace elements of this and that. So that means we must be on either Mars or Earth," she concluded. 

          "And wherever we are, it looks like we're in a bit of a storm," Finn added. 

          "Shouldn't we get some kind of beacon going? So that anyone nearby will come pick us up?" She asked.

          "Good idea. But if we're on Mars then that might bring some unwanted company," Finn informed her.

          "I don't care at this point. Tell me what to do or I'll start pushing buttons at random," she threatened. 

          "There's an orange button alone the left side panel. Hit that. If it starts blinking red that means we're in business." Finn, knowing what Ryoko can be like after being rudely awakened, didn't try and argue.

          "Done. It's blinking. I don't suppose this thing can actually fly?" she asked.

          "Probably not," Finn answered. "Shall we take a look outside?"

          "It's a blinding snowstorm. I think I'd rather remain in here where it's warm and wait for help," Ryoko said. They waited. And waited. And waited. And, a drumroll began…waited some more. "Ahhh! I'm tired, hungry, and freezing!" Ryoko was beginning to snap. 

          "Well, we have been sitting here in the cold for hours. Even this thing can't stay toasty forever in this kind of weather," Finn informed her. Ryoko had long since removed the restraints and they were, more of less, sitting face to face. Finn had managed to remove his suit, which, being made of metal, provided negative insulation. Ryoko was wearing the blue pants and white sweatshirt she had been wearing when they fled the Noda's shop. Finn was still in the short sleeved blue shirt and beige trousers. "Hmm. I don't think this is the right colour combination for me," he said, looking himself over.

          "I don't think whether or not your clothes match really matters right now. Can't we turn up the heat or something?" Ryoko asked, shivering.

          "As much as I'd like to, we can't spare the power. This thing's barely staying on as it is. If we waste any power then our beacon might die," Finn explained.

          "I would hardly call keeping us warm a waste of power," she said.

          "We could try body heat?" Finn suggested with a sly grin on his face. 

          "Interesting proposition, Saotome." Surprisingly enough, Ryoko seemed to find this idea worthy of note. "How do you propose we do this?" 

          "Eh?" Finn stared at her. 

          "Look, I'm freezing. You're freezing. We might as well help each other out here," Ryoko said. Finn was still in the shock of Ryoko taking his 'idea' seriously. "Don't you want to?" She grinned and removed her sweatshirt. "Take off your shirt," she commanded.

In Finn's head floated an image of Ryoko holding a whip over him, but he quickly shook that idea out of his head. 'Some women are scary,' he reminded himself.

Finn made a kind of 'hey-go-with-what-works' kind of face and did as she told him. Ryoko then removed the t-shirt she had been wearing under her sweatshirt and crawled, for the second time, into Finn's lap.

          "None of that frilly lacy stuff? I'm disappointed," Finn joked. Turning a healthy shade of red upon seeing Ryoko's…assets. Contained, of course, within the confines of a Nergal standard issue bra. 

          "I'm not the kind who buys lingerie," Ryoko informed him. "Well?"

          "Well what?" Finn asked.

          "Your arms. Put them around me. I can't just sit on you or else all that heat will be lost," Ryoko answered. She was not entirely blush-free either. Finn was by no means muscular. One might say he was more on the lanky side, given his height, but what muscle he had was well toned. Finn did as Ryoko told him to do, and slipped his arms under hers and held her against his body. Despite her shivers (of being cold), Ryoko's bare skin was warm to the touch. Ryoko then draped their discarded pieces of clothing over them like a blanket. "Just don't try anything." Ryoko tried to sound as warning as possible. Finn didn't answer. He just sat there doing what he knew best, existing. Ryoko could faintly feel his breath on the back of her neck, which made the tiny hairs back there stand on end. "How long do you think we'll be stuck in here?" she asked, trying to get her mind off certain subjects. 

          "Beats me. Everything's dead. There could be people outside throwing snowballs at us right or we could be sitting on some drift of ice in the middle of nowhere," Finn answered.

          "You're such an optimist," Ryoko teased.

          "Am I?" Finn seemed to be off in some other world, and was only answering with the smallest fraction of consciousness.

          "Hey, what's up?" Ryoko rested her head on Finn's shoulder. "You ok?" Finn heaved a sigh.

          "I guess so," he replied.

          "Come on. What's going on with you?" Ryoko shifted herself so she could see his face.

          "I don't really want to talk about it," Finn said, avoiding her gaze. "Still cold?"

          "Oh no you don't. You're not getting out of this one," Ryoko said. "Come on, tell me what's bothering you." Finn looked into her eyes for a split second, then looked away. "Don't you trust me?"

          "It's not that. Of course I trust you. But…" he trailed off.

          "But what?" Finn closed his eyes for a moment, looking as though he were fighting an inward battle of some kind.

          "It's so…different," Finn began.

          "Different?" Ryoko asked. 

          "It's been what? Nine months since I first saw you?" Finn seemed to ignore Ryoko's question. "When I first saw you there in the hangar, I honestly thought you were going to kill me. I mean, you were standing there with the rest of them with your guns at my head. Even after took off my mask, you were the last one to lower your gun."

          "But that was…" 

"I don't know what it was about me that made you so angry." Finn kept on 

talking. "I kept asking myself 'what did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this?' And then there was the time I accidentally saw you come out of the shower. Understandably you were upset, you had every right to be. But you never even gave me a chance." Finn stopped for a moment. "But there was something about the way you cursed at me, the way you hit me. Something in your eyes told me that there was more to you than the I-don't-take-shit-from-anyone tomboy you seemed like. That's why I never thought twice about it when you threw me through doors. I was never bitter about it. And then we got tossed halfway across the solar system, and it was like…I don't know. It was like that look in your eyes before took over. At first I thought it wasn't you sitting there in the hospital. But when I saw that look in your eyes, it wouldn't matter what colour your hair was or what kind of clothes they made you wear. It felt like that look was for me and me alone. And when we left the hospital, we refused to let ourselves be separated. But all that time there was this one part of me. A part of me that kept asking 'what if? What if this is just a strategy to get home?' But then this morning when I saw you there next to me. That part of me shut up. You looked scared. I never thought I'd see a look as frightened as that. It wasn't any face contorted or twisted in fear. Just your eyes. It all comes back to your eyes. They were wet with repressed tears. I didn't know what you were scared of, but I did. It was a feeling. Something you can't put into words. No amount of words could describe what I saw in your eyes. But when I took your hand, I saw the smallest, most subtle change. It was like a sliver of light just barely breaking through the clouds. I wouldn't say that you've changed, that you're some different person than before. It's more like you've shown me a side you've kept locked away. Like something you were afraid to show anyone." 

He fell silent and for the first time since he started talking, he looked at Ryoko. She looked at him, and brushed aside the tears that were in her eyes, but Finn could tell those weren't tears of sorrow or pain. Both of them had long since forgotten about being cold.

          "What…what are you saying?" she asked, their eyes locking.

          "What I'm trying to say is…that I…" Finn struggled. 'Damnit! Just say it! What's holding you back?' his mind screamed at him. He stopped and took a breath. "What I'm trying to say," he said. "Is that I…" He stopped short as the whole ship moved, as though it had just been picked up and shaken. They both tried to ignore it, but when the ACF hit something and they were thrown into each other, they came back to reality. The frame hit something and then it was quiet again.

          "What's going on?" Ryoko asked, sounding just a little irritated.

          "I don't know." Finn kicked the monitor. "Nothing's working." There came a loud rumbling noise, as though someone were holding a jackhammer against the outside of the AFC. Then there came a pounding on the cockpit roof. Instinctively, Finn and Ryoko reached for their sidearms. Finn had to pick his out of the blanket of clothes surrounding them and Ryoko fumbled along the floor for hers. When the hatch to the cockpit opened slightly they both aimed at whatever might be coming after them. Outside they heard voices, but they were too muffled to understand. Finally the hatch burst open. The sudden bright intensity of the lights blinded them both. Finn fired a shot out of the cockpit, aimed at one of the bright overhead lights as a warning, and also to get the light out of his eyes.

          "Whoa! Hold on a sec there," came a familiar voice. "Watch where you shoot that thing!"

          "Wha?" Finn and Ryoko said in unison. They shielded their eyes, and after a moment, were able to see somewhat clearly outside. "Seiya?" They both said.

          "Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Seiya said, noticing their current state of undress. Finn and Ryoko both looked at themselves, then at each other and threw their shirts back on, but not before several bright flashes of light came from above. They both blinked at the spots in front of their eyes. "These are going in the scrap book." Seiya was holding several instant photos. 

"Sex fiends," someone said. Finn, upon seeing the camera, quickly fired a shot and blew the device clean out of Seiya's hand, sending it in pieces to the floor. Seiya quickly stuffed the photos into his pocket and stood back as Ryoko climbed out of the cockpit, with Finn following her. They were both blinded again as they came out of the shaded cockpit and into the blinding bright lights of the hangar. "They're ok!" Seiya said through his loudspeaker

          "Gah man. Put that away." Finn held his hands against his ears.

          "The Nadesico?" Ryoko asked. "How'd you find us so quickly?" No one paid attention to her. A med team appeared and threw both of them on stretchers and carried them out of the hangar and down to sickbay. "Look! I'm fine already!" Finn saw Ryoko's outline through the curtain that separated their beds. 

          "I'm just making sure." Came Inez's familiar, encyclopedia like voice from the other side. "You've suffered minor frostbite on your left foot. But that will heal nicely. Other than that you're alright. Alright Lt. Saotome. You're turn." Inez flung the curtain back and began Finn's examination. "All you're suffering from is slight sleep deprivation and an irregular heartbeat," she said, writing some notes down on a chart.

          "You try going through what we just did." Finn said. "Look, I'm fine. I just want to…" He looked at Ryoko, who was looking at him. "Get some sleep." He smiled at her while Inez scribbled something else down.

          "Well, since you appear to have suffered only minor injuries I suppose it wouldn't harm either of you to go to your quarters." Inez got up and left the room. Finn rose from his sickbay bed and stood by the door. Ryoko joined him and they began to make their way down the halls, the florescent lights overhead buzzing away.

          "Ryoko!" Came a voice from behind the two. Akito grabbed Ryoko in his arms. "I can't believe it!" he said, releasing her, and getting a dirty looked from Finn. "We all thought you guys were finished. At first we kept searching for you, thinking you might have ended up somewhere around one of the nearby chulips. But after a few months we began to give up hope." Akito became quiet. "We had a funeral service for you guys two weeks ago."

          "A what?!" Finn and Ryoko said in unison.

          "You were gone for eight months," Akito explained.

          "Eight…" Finn began.

          "Months?" Ryoko finished. 

          "Yeah. But in the meantime…" Akito started.

          "We're getting some sleep." Finn interrupted. 

          "Right." Akito said. He shook Finn's hand. "Good to have you back."

          "See ya." Finn and Ryoko continued on their way. 

          Finn tossed and turned in his bed. 

          "Gah. It's no good." He said, sitting up and putting his feet on the floor. "Something's not right." He glanced at his watch. "2:00 AM? It's only been an hour since I left sickbay." He flopped back onto his bunk. "What's wrong?" He stared in the dim light for a while at the ceiling panels above him. "I'm thirsty. That must be it. I need a can of juice," he concluded. He threw on some sweatpants, exited his room, and made his way towards the vending machines. He swiped his card and a can of orange juice fell into the bin. On his way back he stopped. Something clicked in his head. Passing his room, he made his way down the halls, eventually stopping outside one door. He pressed the button, and it slid open. "I figured I might find you here."

          "About time you figured it out," came a familiar voice from inside. "I've been trying forever to get to sleep. And believe me, Hikaru's snoring and Izumi's babblings don't help." Finn stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Inside the observation deck was dark, lit only by the thousands of stars whose' light came pouring in through the windows. Finn joined Ryoko under the blanket. The ground was hard and the air was cold, but that, somehow, didn't matter.

**Honey, I'm Home!**

          "SAOTOME!!" aomeone screamed at Finn.

          "Wha? Whazzat?" Finn poked his head up out of the blanket. 

          "Damnit Saotome! Wake up already!" the voice screamed at him again. Finn was very tempted to take the communicator off his wrist and crush it into the ground.

          "Ugh. Fine. What is it?" Finn sat up and Seiya's face was projected from his communicator into a small vidwindow. 

          "Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to meet me in the hangar three hours ago so we can get to work on your frames.

          "What's going on?" murmured a voice from beside Finn.

          "Who was that?" Seiya asked.

          "Never mind that," Finn yawned. 

          "I need you down here right now. We've been working on repairing the structural damage since late last night. But we started on the interior repairs and well…none of us can figure it out," Seiya explained.

          "Come back to bed," the voice beside Finn murmured in her sleep. "It's too early for this. Yu said I don't start will later."

          "I'm positive I just heard someone there," Seiya said, manoeuvring to get a better view."

          "I'll be right down." Finn swung a hand through the window, causing the holographic vidwindow to fizzle and close. He flopped down on the blanket and stared at the bright, morning sky projected above him. In her sleep, Ryoko rolled over and put her arms around him. After a few minutes she began to stir. "Good morning." 

          "Mernin," Ryoko mumbled. 

          "I'm just on break. I'll be back in five," came a muffled voice from outside. "Finally a little peace and quiet." Akatsuki walked into the room, but froze when he saw Finn and Ryoko. " 'scuse me. I didn't know you two were busy." He quickly wheeled around. Ryoko shot up.

          "Akatsuki!" she yelled. "Come back here!"

          "Oh shit!" came a reply from down the hall as Akatsuki ran for his life. Ryoko flung the door open and ran after him, leaving Finn alone, blinking.

          "Oh well," he sighed. "Back to the grind," he yawned and left the room, tucking the blanket into a storage compartment in the wall. After stretching the kinks out of his spine, he made his way to the hangar. "Alright. I'm here. What can't you guys figure out?"

          "About time you got here." Seiya was sitting on a crate looking over one of the manuals Finn had provided him with. "So far most of the major structural damage has been repaired. We've been working on this," a yawn interrupted him. "All night. So I hope you appreciate this. When we took apart the cockpit and IFS controls we found something. I've never seen anything like it. I thought I'd check with you before any of us touched it. It looks somewhat important."

          "What is it?" asked Finn.

          "It's right here." Seiya climbed up onto the ACF's chest plate and motioned for Finn to follow. "Its that thing. All the IFS wiring and circuitry seems to all come together here." He shone inside the dismantled cockpit. "It looks like the bioreceptor in the aestivalis, but I'm not entirely sure. Just what is that thing?"

          "That's the minicomputer that feeds the information from the IFS plugs to the central computer," Finn answered.

          "That's what I thought. But the mechanics are so complex…" Seiya trailed off and watched as Akatsuki ran into the hangar and dove behind a stack of crates. "What the…?"

          "Don't ask," Finn saw Ryoko appear at the door.

          "You're lucky this time!" Ryoko shouted and left.

          "Is she gone?" Akatsuki poked his head out from behind the crates. Finn and Seiya nodded.

          "Just what was that all about?" Seiya inquired. 

          "Just don't ask," Finn glared at Akatsuki, giving him one of those 'tell-anyone-and-I'll-cut-your-throat' looks. "Is that all you need me for?"

          "Yeah," Seiya handed Finn a roll of electrical tape and some pliers. "Hurry up. We'd like to start putting this thing back together today."

          "Wha? Me?" Finn looked at the tools in his hands. "Damn maintenance crew," he mumbled. 

          "What was that?" Seiya.

          "Hand me some latency glue," Finn answered. "By the way," he said as he began crawling into the dismantled cockpit. "Did you guys find the other one?"

          "What other one?" Seiya asked, not really paying attention to Finn.

          "My other frame. Did it show up anywhere?"

          "Oh yeah. It's over there," Seiya motioned to the far side of the hangar. "Yeah, we picked that one up when it crashed into UF Headquarters. Not difficult to find. But Prospector had to pull a rabbit out of his ass to explain why a ship registered to the Nadesico left a crater where UF HQ used to be."

          "Whoops," Finn bit his lip and got to work. 

          It was some time before Finn had finished repairing the damage to the IFS, monitors, and computer that Sanoske had inflicted on the frame, most of which lay in pieces all over the hangar. The only sections still somewhat intact were the cockpit and legs. The MAF didn't fare much better. It truly looked like it had been hauled out of a smoking crater. They had tried an engine test, but when the computer predicted meltdown they decided it still needed work. 

Around 2:00 PM he Finn took a break and made his way, covered in grease stains from the joint components and clothes singed due to wiring mishaps, to the cafeteria. It was pretty much deserted. There were a few security officers and a maintenance crewmember here and here, but other than that it was quiet.

          "I've always said that an army moves on its stomach. Nice to have you and Ryoko back.  What can I get for you, Lt. Saotome?" Miss Howmei asked from behind the counter. Finn rested his head against the wall.

          "Is to too late for breakfast?" He managed to say.

          "We stopped serving at eleven. Right now we're doing lunch. Can I interest you in a roast beef sandwich?" she asked.

          "Sure," Finn reached for his card, but Miss Howme crossed her arms when he offered it to be swiped.

          "On the house," she said smiling. "Besides, according to the UF and most of Nergal, you're dead. Not that you existed in their eyes before." 

          "Right. I'll have to have a word with Prospector." Finn took the food and grabbed an iced tea (sweetened for those who want to know) and sat down at table. It wasn't until he had taken a bite that he realized just how hungry he really was. When he popped the iced tea {(sweetened) the author laughs maniacally} open, he saw the other pilots file into the room. Akatsuki was strangely absent, for reasons only the reader can hazard. Ryoko was being hassled by Hikaru and Izumi, and Akito went straight to the back, throwing on his apron.

          "Welcome back to the land of the living, Saotome!" Hikaru chirped as she and the other pilots sat down at his table. Hikaru and Izumi sat opposite Finn and Ryoko.

          "We're dead serious," the undead Izumi added.

          "So what was it like? Where did you go?" Hikaru asked. Finn began to speak but shut up when Ryoko raised her hand.

          "Neither of us remember. Right, Saotome?" Ryoko said. Finn blinked and swallowed a mouthful of his sandwich. "It was just like the time we jumped from Mars. We got sucked into the chulip and got spit out somewhere else." She gave Finn a gentle nudge in the ribs. "Right?"

          "Right," Finn said, taking a sip of his iced tea. The author contemplated adding the word sweetened there but figured that by now the audience gets the idea. 

          "How come you weren't at the briefing this morning?" Hikaru asked.

          "Rumour has it his briefs were at another meeting this morning," Izumi snorted and began laughing her insane little laugh. They both turned a slight shade of red, that is, before Ryoko grabbed Finn's half empty iced tea can and crushed it into Izumi's forehead. Hikaru blinked.

          "What does that mean…" Hikaru was cut off there as a slight rumbling sound, followed by a shudder. Finn's communicator blinked. 

          "Saotome!" Seiya coughed. "We need you."

          "Sorry Hikaru. Can't talk now." Finn popped the last bit of food into his mouth and bolted from the room. 

          "Um…I'll go too." Ryoko said and ran off after him, leaving a slightly confused Hikaru by herself at the table and Izumi unconscious on the floor, iced tea gargling in her throat.

          "That couldn't have worked out better," Ryoko said, running next to Finn.

          "I suppose that's one way of looking at it," Finn replied. They stopped at one of the entrances to the hangar. When the door slid open, smoke poured into the hallway. 

          "That you Saotome?" Seiya coughed from somewhere inside. Finn and Ryoko walked into the smoke filled hangar. They found Seiya, his face blackened by some unplanned, minor explosion, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

          "What did you do this time?" Ryoko demanded. Seiya got up.

          "Get the vents going!" he shouted. "There's no fire, so make sure those sprinklers don't go off. That's the last thing I need is a cold shower." A few seconds later, the smoke cleared as it was drawn up by the ventilation system.

          "Just what happened here?" asked Finn.

          "Don't know," Seiya replied. "Something must have gone wrong when we booted up the main computer in the big one. We started it up when smoke began to stream out of the engine mounted on the back of the cannon. Then the whole thing just blew. Fortunately it had nothing to do with any of the nuclear components. Looks like it was an electrical problem. What's the damage like, men?!" 

          "Come see for yourself, sir," one of the underlings said. They came around the side of the frame. Seiya looked as though he had some kind of heart condition, or at least, would have when he finished fixing this. Finn looked about the same way. There was a massive hole blown into the side of the frame, as though someone had just gouged it right out with a giant ice cream scoop.

          "Uh…sir?" the underling asked.

          "Don't…talk…to…me…" Seiya managed to say. Finn inspected the damage. 

          "Whatever happened, it was hot. Really hot." Finn said, kicking a steaming chunk of the hull with his foot. "It melted its way right through. Did anything have the plasma cutter on this thing when this happened?"

          "No, sir," the underling replied. 

          "It would appear," Inez said, appearing out of nowhere. "The when the engine mounted on the cannon was activated, some of the damaged  systems were not fully replaced. With this occurred the engine overloaded. Under normal conditions this would have triggered an automatic emergency shut down. However, due to the wiring, this command did not reach the engine's microcomputer. As a result, it overloaded. Because the engine was still connected to the ACF structurally and through connection cables, the overload caused central power supplies within the main frame to spark. One of these sparks occurred inside one of the internal oxygen canisters, igniting it, and thereby causing an explosion. The other oxygen canisters ignited as well in reaction, but because the energy had nowhere to go it forced its way out via the explosion. Due to the intense heat of the combusting oxygen, it melted the superstructure and components within this zone," she pointed to a small vidwindow diagram of the ACF. "And caused significant damage in this zone. Does that concur with your analysis, Lieutenant?"

          "…" Finn sweatdropped. 

          "But if those parts melted, how are we supposed to repair them?" Seiya tore at his hair. "We can't exactly forge new parts on the Nadesico. All we can do is bang them back into shape!" Finn sat down on the floor and crossed his arms and thought. 

          "Is the MAF still ok?" he asked.

          "Yeah, it was far enough back that nothing hit it." Seiya replied.

          "Some of this seems to be salvageable." he kicked the ACF lightly. "And we can't let all these perfectly good parts go to waste."

          "What are you suggesting?" Seiya asked.

          "Is there anyway we could combine parts from both frames?"

          "I suppose it's possible," Seiya said, taking a look at the blueprints Finn had given him when he first boarded the Nadesico. "But why? The MAF can be fully repaired. Can't you just use it?"

          "It may be fast and pack a lot of firepower. But it doesn't have the strength to go up against a goliath or a dimojin," Finn explained. "And if the Jovians are going to start relying on pilots instead of drone grasshoppers, I'll need something that I can go hand-to-hand with."

          "What exactly do you have in mind?" Seiya asked. Finn opened a vidwindow and began to tinker with the tech specs of the ACF and MAF frames. After a few minutes, he had formulated some kind of idea. 

          "This," he enlarged the window so everyone could see. In its jet mode, it didn't look all that different. The two large main engines of the ACF, which were still intact, would replace the MAF's smaller, less powerful ones. The guns would be placed at the side, with an extended wing.  Two small machine guns, from existing aestevalis technology, could be mounted on the nose. In robot mode it looked much different. The engines served as the massive leg components. The arms were a mix of the ACF's powerful shoulder and arm components, with the MAF's smaller, more dexterous hand and finger parts. In this mode the two cannons would be mounted on the shoulders, instead of being removable. The wrist blades were not salvageable, however, Seiya added twin sabres onto the frame using technology from his distortion field penetrating blade devices. However, due to such drastic changes to the structure of the frames, it would partially lose its invisibility to radar. But because of the composition of the hull, it would only appear as a small flicker on a radar screen, something you might guess to be a piece of space junk. And it was still partially invisible to heat sensitive instruments. Finn looked at Seiya. "Think it can be done?"

          "This is a very rough sketch," Seiya said, sounding somewhat doubtful. 

          "But is it possible?" Finn pressed.

          "Well," Seiya downloaded the vidwindow data onto his palm screen. "By itself the MAF's nuclear reactor doesn't generate enough power. But by adding additional plutonium from the ACF's core…" He rapidly scribbled notes, changing this and that. "I don't see why not. What do you think?" He handed the palm screen to Inez, who began to go over the data. (The author would like to point out here that he has almost zero knowledge when it comes to nuclear power, I'm just making it up as I go along. So for all of you who like real scientific explanations, sorry.)

          "I would say that this is physically possible. Given enough time, I'm sure we could pull this off," Inez answered. A small crowd had gathered around them.

          "Great! Inez, I need you to make this your top priority," Finn began.

          "I don't know if I'll have time. I'm already swamped with work as it is," Inez said doubtfully. 

          "You have my orders to do what Lt. Saotome tells you to do in this project," Yurika said. Apparently she had slipped in when no one was looking.

          "Good. You and I'll have to go over all the engineering problems. Seiya, I need you to oversee construction," Finn said.

          "Sure. Oh this baby'll be sweet," Seiya drooled, looking over the data again. "This'll be fun," he said, looking up. Finn looked at Ryoko, who had a grin on her face.

          "Let's get to work."

          Work began immediately. Inez and Finn spent days working out all the technical and physical challenges of building the thing. They worked pretty much around the clock. Fortunately the Nadesico had been assigned to guard duty around the moon while UF fleets converged there, building up forces while they prepared to push the Jovians back even further. Seiya, along with most of the maintenance crew, spent most of his time stripping the frames of parts they would need. In doing so, they even found two barrels of the gattling cannon were still operational. Inez took these two parts into consideration while redesigning the side wings. They manage to fit as another set of guns set on at the rear of the frame on either side. 

"The more firepower we can stick on this thing without making it too heavy the better," was how Finn described it. However, figuring out how to transfer radioactive plutonium from the ACF's core into the MAF was proving to be a bit of a challenge. "I guess there's no way we could do that inside the Nadesico," Finn said.

          "That's correct," Inez answered. "The Nadesico is shielded from radiation from the outside. Inside, there's nothing to stop it from spreading throughout the ship. Even opening the reactors on your frames would cause lethal amounts of radiation to flood the ship." They sat in silence for a few minutes.

          "You said that the Nadesico is protected from radiation from the outside, right?" Finn asked.

          "That's correct." 

          "And our spacesuits are protected from radiation?" 

          "Yes."

          "Then I've got an idea." Finn said, scribbling something down. "This is so educational."

**A Nuclear Family**

          "You'd like to do what?" Prospector asked. It had been two weeks since the initial disaster with the ACF's main engine, and the bits and pieces of the yet-to-be-named frame were beginning to take shape. "You can't be serious. If anything were to go wrong it could destroy the Nadesico along with part of the fleet that has been gathering around our position."

          "Why is exactly why I'd like to do this on the Moon's surface, away from people. That way if it blows, no one will be in the way," Finn explained.

          "What do you need in order to carry out this operation?" Yurika asked.

          "The basic idea is to transfer more plutonium from the MAF's smaller reactor into the ACF's. We'll need to do that in order of the new frame to have enough power to operate at 100% capability," Finn said. "I'll need and aestivalis to tow both of the reactors to the surface. After that all I need is your standard aestivalis tool kit."

          "What are the chances of accidents?" asked Prospector.

          "Depends. From what we can see from the outside, everything looks to be ok. But the ACF has been really bashed around. But all in all I'd say chances are pretty slim. Say… 5%." Finn tossed the figures to Prospector, who began to enter them into his ever-ready calculator.

          "And you're sure this location is at a safe distance?"

          "Yes."

          "Well then. I don't see why it can't be done." 

          "Great. Now all I need is someone willing to come with me." Finn eyed the pilots, gathered at the other side of the bridge. "I take it Tenkawa is out of the question," he said to himself 

          "What was that?" Yurika asked.

          "Um…nothing." 

          "Megumi. What does the flight schedule look like right now?" Asked Yurika.

          "Akito and Hikaru are scheduled to go on scout patrol in half an hour. After that it's Ryoko and Izumi," Megumi replied.

          "Akatsuki isn't scheduled to head out for a while then. He'll be the one to toy you out. Akatsuki. Come here for a minute," Yurika ordered him over and explained what the operation was to entail. He didn't seem too thrilled about it. 

          "I really don't have time to be playing around with you," Akatsuki said. They were both cramped into his aestivalis' cockpit. 

          "Hey, I'm not to thrilled about it either." Finn replied, floating above Akatsuki's head. Just take us down." They landed seven hundred and eighty six kilometers from any lunar colonies or research stations. Finn exited the aestivalis, floated down to the ground and began his work. Unfortunately there was little they could do onboard the Nadesico without risking leaks. However, they had managed to separate the reactor chambers from most of both frames. So Finn had to pretty much start by bashing broken bits away from the reactor chamber's door before he could actually do anything. It took about an hour or so to clear everything away. "Ok." Finn flipped down his visor. He wasn't wearing his normal suit, which wasn't heavy enough to be fully protected from the intense radiation that he would soon experience. There was a small keypad with numbers zero to nine and the letters A through G. He typed in the first of the three codes he would have to enter. "So far so good."  When he punched in the last code, a small compartment opened, and a keyhole appeared. Finn removed a key from his pocket and slipped it in. The chamber door slid open slowly. Inside there were long metal rods that extended from the floor of the chamber to the ceiling. Encircling each rod were three hockey puck sized cylinders.

          "Hurry it up already," Akatsuki said. "I've got better things to do than sit here and baby-sit you." Finn stopped what he was doing and floated up to the aestevalis' head.

          "Shut up already. If I screw up here we're both fried like eggs in a microwave," Finn said, banging on the aesti's face. 

          "Whatever," Akatuski crossed his arms. Finn turned off his communicator.

          'I don't need that shit now,' he thought, returning to open reactor core. Now it was time to open up the MAF's core and plunder some of its fuel. Fortunately, Seiya had been able to completely extract the smaller frame's reactor, which was about the size of a refrigerator, so Finn didn't have to kick and bash broken parts away. And three more codes and another key later, its core was soon exposed as well. "Now for the tricky part." Slowly he began to undo the tight bolts that held the cylinders in place. Unlike the ACF, which had three such stacks of cylinders, the MAF only had one, but Finn was sweating bullets all the same. He knew that one wrong move or error could cause a major problem. Something, oh I don't know, that could turn the Nadesico's pilot roster to Ryoko, Izumi, Hikaru, Akito, and a large collection of Finn and Akatsuki bits. When he finally loosened the last bolt on the MAF, he carefully removed the cylinders and placed them into a case. There were nine cylinders in all. Finn gulped as he slid the last one off. When this task was complete, he punched in the commands to seal the MAF's chamber. Now Finn set to work loosening the bolts that held the rods and their cylinders in place in the ACF's core. This, again, took some time. Three times as long as it had with the MAF, since there was thrice the number of rods. When he finally completed this task, he slid three of the MAF's cylinders onto each rod. All the while he kept a close eye on the temperature gage that was placed inside the core. Suddenly, the ground shook below him. Finn looked up and scanned the area. Off towards his left, flashes from explosions could be seen. "What's going on?" He asked, turning his communicator back on.

          "Where the hell have you been?" Akatsuki shouted. "The Captain ordered us to pull back an hour ago when the battle began!"

          "I'm almost done. I just need ten more minutes," Finn went back to his work, despite Akatsuki yelling at him to get back inside. There was only one more cylinder to go. Just as Finn was placing it on its rod, the ground shook beneath him, causing him to drop it onto the ground. 

          "Time's up," Akatsuki told him.

          "I'm almost there. I just dropped one." Finn fell on his hands and knees, looking and feeling for the cylinder. Above him, Akatsuki fired at incoming grasshoppers. A stray missile exploded not far from where Finn was working, causing lunar dust to explode in his face. 

          "We're leaving!" Akatsuki fired up the engines.

          "Just hold on a sec!" Finn searched frantically through the dust until he felt the cylinder and pulled it out.

          "Look, we won't have enough time. My speed's cut in half with those things tied onto the back." Akatsuki said, firing another round. "Are you even listening to me?"

          "No." Finn slid the cylinder into place and quickly tightened the bolts with a device Seiya had provided him with. "Done."

          "Then get up here!" Akatsuki ordered. 

          "Not yet."

          "You're going to do what?!" 

          From the view screens of the Nadesico, all that followed was a bright flash of light, followed seconds later by an intense shockwave.

          "Ruri, report!" Yurika held onto her control panel as the Nadesico shook from the shockwave.

          "Reading high amounts of radiation from Lt. Saotome and Pilot Akatsuki's last confirmed position," Ruri answered. "Signature matches Lt. Saotome's MAF frame."

          "You mean he failed?" Yurika asked.

          "That is unconfirmed," Ruri said. The Nadesico shook violently again.

          "Did his other reactor just blow?" 

          "Negative. The shock was due to an intense collision between the Nadesico's distortion field and a foreign object," reported Ruri. "High bose particle concentration detected at point 05827. They appear to be Jovian goliath type units."

          "Arm the gravity blast cannon," Yurika ordered.

          "Negative, Captain. Pilots Subaru and Tenkawa are currently within our line of fire. Also, the goliaths' field strength is capable of withstanding a fully gravity blast wave." Ruri displayed a window showing their enemy's distortion field strength. 

          "Recall all pilots and arm PT cannon then!" Yurika ordered.

          "That would not be advisable, Captain," a vidwindow from Inez popped up. "The PT cannon's range is much larger than that of the gravity blast. The initial blast wave would vaporize all units within a 100 kilometer radius. However, the resulting shock wave would probably cause severe damage on any colonies within 300 kilometers. Now this…"

          "We get the idea already!" Yurika screamed. "Fire a missile barrage at the goliaths, target their distortion field's weakest point." The Nadesico launched its missiles, scoring at least one direct hit on each goliath. This gave Ryoko and Akito, both piloting lunar surface frames, enough time to rip their way through their enemy's distortion fields and engage them in close range combat. Akito stuck mainly to hand to hand, trying to literally rip his opponent apart with his bare hands. Ryoko relied mainly on her rifle. Her goliath took a few steps back and fired off a gravity blast, seeming not to care that a miscalculated blast could result in civilian casualties. Ryoko threw herself to the right of the blast but, however, was not fast enough. Her aesti's left arm was blown off and vaporized. But the most powerful part of the blast hit elsewhere. Ryoko hauled her frame off the ground and watched as the goliath lumbered in her direction. She pulled the trigger on her rifle.

          "What? Out of ammo? You have to be kidding me here," she said, managing to stand up. The goliath swung at her with one of its massive, clawed arms at her. She hit her thrusters and leapt high into the air. When the force of gravity finally managed to start pulling her back down, she grabbed her rifle by the barrel. Hitting her thrusters again, she flew straight down at her opponent. She channeled as much forward motion as she could into her one functional arm and brought the butt of her gun down heavily on the goliath's head. It stumbled back and fell back. Ryoko seized this opportunity to slam her fist into the mammoth machine's head. At first her punches caused little more than dents. However, after five or six steady blows, she began to rip clean through the armoured plating. She stopped when it ceased moving and picked up Akito's discarded rifle. "Stand back!" she called as she opened fire. However, without a second hand to steady the gun was difficult to aim and her shots were wide. The goliath capitalized on Akito's distraction and, with one of its clawed hands, slashed at him, tearing his aesti's head off. Ryoko balanced the gun on one knee and fired at the goliath as it was about to crush Akito's cockpit. The bullets ripped open the goliath's chest like a can opener. Ryoko held the trigger down until the rifle finally ran out of bullets. The goliath fell back and stopped moving.

          "Both goliaths have been neutralized. Remaining units now with in our effective range of gravity blast fire," Ruri reported.

          "Fire gravity blast," Yurika ordered. The launcher hatch opened and a stream of gravitron energy burst out. Grasshoppers melted under the intensity of energy and the goliaths boson jumped away.

          "Pilot Tenkawa's aestivalis has been severely damaged and is currently inoperable," 

          "Akito!" Yurika cried.

          "Don't worry, I'm alright." Akito's face popped up in a vidwindow. "No need to get all dramatic on us you nutbar."

          "I'm not faring to well myself, you know." Ryoko said, grabbing one of Akito's arms. Hikaru grabbed the other and together they hauled Akito's damaged frame back to the Nadesico, which had landed not far from them.

          "Oh Akito!" Yurika flung her arms around Akito's neck. "Are you alright?"

          "Gah! I'm fine!" Akito tried to pry Yurika off him, but she had him in a kung fu-like grip. "Why me?" He slumped his shoulders and walked out of the hangar, dragging Yurika with him.

          "Hey, where's Saotome?" Ryoko asked, noticing large sections from his frames were absent. 

          "Yeah, now that you mention it, it is kinda quiet around here," Hikaru added. 

          "Yo Megumi!" a vidwindow with Ryoko's face appeared in front of the purple haired communications officer. "Where'd Finn…I mean Saotome get to?" The bridge fell silent. "Come on. Spill it."

          "Pilot Subaru. We have reason to believe that Lt. Saotome and Pilot Akatsuki have been destroyed," Ruri said.

          "I'm sorry, Ryoko," Megumi said sadly. 

          "Oh come on. You don't think he'd really let himself get killed that easily. He's done this before, you know," Ryoko said, crossing her arms. 

          "But Ryoko. One of the reactors blew. We all saw it. And there's no way they could have gotten away that fast enough with the load they were towing," Megumi said doubtfully. 

          "Look, try contacting him. He'll answer," Ryoko replied confidently.

          "Alright." Megumi put her headset back on and attempted to pick up Finn or Akatsuki's signal. "I'm sorry, Ryoko. I'm not getting anything."

          "Then I'll do it," she opened a communications window. "Saotome!" she shouted. "Answer me!" All she got was static. "Damnit Saotome! Answer me!" There was still nothing. At first Ryoko just stood there with her arms crossed. However, after few minutes the window closed itself, having received no signal. Ryoko continued to stand there with her head lowered, her hair covering her eyes.

          "Ryoko…?" Hikaru put her hand on her comrade's shoulder. Ryoko flung her aside.

          "Don't touch me," she hugged herself. "He's gone," she whispered to herself. "He's really gone."

          "Not exactly." Finn's staticy voice could be heard over the comlink. The hangar's inner door opened and Akatsuki's aesti crawled through it looking battered bruised, but not beaten. Behind it dragged the ACF's reactor core. 

          "Saotome?" Ryoko looked up as Akatsuki's blue aesti disconnected the cable attached to the reactor from itself and took its usual position along the wall to be repaired. Akatsuki climbed out of the cockpit first, followed by Finn. 

          "What? Do you have nine lives or something?" Seiya asked. "Try talking your way out of this one. We all thought you were dead…again."

          "It was easy. There was no way we could have pulled out in time carrying both reactors. I disconnected the MAF's reactor before I got back in the aestivalis." Finn explained coolly. 

          "And let me guess. You figured that with less weight you could get out in time?" Seiya said.

          "Exactly," Finn peeled off the heavy spacesuit. 

          "This guy is nuts," Akatsuki said, giving Finn a shove before pushing his way past.

          "Alright men! Back to work!" Seiya said through his loudspeaker. There was a collective groan, probably because most of the maintenance crew had not slept more than two hours a night in the last two weeks.

          "I'll be right back," Finn said, taking a whiff of the suit. "I think a shower is in order." He looked around for Ryoko, but she had disappeared.

"Looks like he's about to get some discipline," Akatsuki said when he noticed Finn's gaze. It was only a little later that he found her, standing outside his door. 

"Hey, what's up?" Finn asked. She took her weight off the wall, stepped towards him, and slapped him, hard. Finn recoiled, holding the side of his face. "But…" he began, but stopped when Ryoko quickly grabbed him and held onto him, burying her face in his shoulder.

          "Don't ever do that again," she said harshly. "You may think it's funny. But it's not. We…I thought you were gone." Finn tried to hold Ryoko, but she pulled away and delivered a quick, but sharp, blow to his stomach. Finn fell to the floor winded.

          "Now we're even," she smiled and left.

**Jetstorm, Afterbrurn!**

          "Make sure the IFS unit's minicomputer is set to 0.28+," Finn said, working from under a pile of what appeared to be loose scrap. "Can't don't use any borrowed parts from the aestivalis units. I don't need to be fried again like I was on Mars!" he shouted to the techie as he walked away. The new frame was finally nearing completion. Finn, along with the entire maintenance crew and Inez, had been working pretty much 18-hour days. And with 5 explosions, 5093 short circuits, 3 near meltdowns, 50 000 km of wiring, 82 plasma cutter fuel cells, and 32 cases of sleep deprivation and or exhaustion later they actually had a ship. All that was left was software programming and the setting the IFS controls.

          "Saotome. We need you in the cave." A techie ran up to Finn. The cave was the storage hangar where they had been working the past month. It was decided that with all the battles the Nadesico fought, the main hangar was no place for some kind of mechanical Frankenstein to be built. Also, Seiya kicked them back there when the first explosion ruined one of his model dioramas. Finn crawled out from under whatever he was working on and followed the techie. 

          "What's going on?" Finn asked. "Don't tell me the exhaust manifold fell off again."

          "No, sir." The techi led Finn around the rear of the ship. "We've finished programming the computer. And Inez just installed the IFS software," he said in a very serious voice.

          "Uh huh?" Finn kicked a discarded wrench with his foot, sending it sliding into a toolbox a few feet away.

          "We've decided that this thing needs a name." Finn facefaulted.

          "A name?" He peeled himself off the floor. 

          "Yes, sir. Seeing as this thing isn't a one-of-a-kind ship, not a standard fighter or aestivalis, it needs a name," the techie said.

          "You guys aren't serious," Finn said, sitting down with his arms and legs crossed. "A name?" 'Damn. I was hoping for a huge party or something,' he thought.

          "That's right. We've gathered names from most crew on board. They're right here." The techie handed Finn a palm screen. 

          "Earth Pear?" Finn read over a few names. "Who submitted that one?"

          "I think one of the kitchen girls did," the techie replied. "I personally prefer Misfire."

          "Nice thought, but that's not exactly what we want to represent this thing," Finn continued to go down the list. "Star Shooter, courtesy of the Captain, Thrust, Scourge… Hmm. Not bad. Here's a good one. 'Skywarp'. (copyright of Hasbro). Who submitted this one?"

          "Pilot Subaru," one of the techies answered.

          "Alright then," Finn picked up a can of yellow spray paint and spelled out the name Skywarp on the nose. 

          "Uh…sir?" We still have to paint it," the techie said.

          "I knew that." Finn stopped. "This is just a reminder." 

          A few days later, most of the available crew stood in the hangar, their eyes on what lay beneath a rather large tarpaulin that had been crudely made from smaller tarps. Finn stood at the front, dressed in his piloting suit and holding his helmet under his arm. Most of the crew had already seen more or less what lay beneath the tarp, but Yurika had insisted on a proper christening. Miss Howmei had even given them a bottle of champagne from the Nadesico's very limited liquor stock. 

          "You don't think we're overdoing things a little?" Finn asked Yurika, who stood along with Jun, Prospector, and the other pilots up at the front. 

          "We need to do this properly." Yurika answered. "Attention please!" She opened a large vidwindow showing them high above them so people at the back of the crowd could hear. "We now present to you the newest fighter in the Nadesico's arsenal. The culmination of hundreds of individuals putting in even more hundreds of hours! I give you, Skywarp!" Finn hit a button in his communicator and the tarp was pulled up and off the new ship. Unfortunately the Nadesico didn't have any black paint, so Finn had to settle for a dark blue, slightly darker than Akatsuki's aestivalis. There was a kind of 'oooo aaaaahhhh' from the crowd. Yurika handed the bottle of champagne to Finn.

          "Ryoko." Finn whispered, motioning with his head for her to come over. "Will you do the honours?" Ryoko looked at him suspiciously for a moment before taking the bottle from him. She climbed the small ladder that stood at the nose of the frame. 

          "I christen thee," Ryoko couldn't believe she actually said this. "Skywarp." The crowd erupted with cheers and applause. Due to the lack of alcohol on the Nadesico, they had to settle for cans of pop from vending machines instead of champagne. 

          As if on queue, the red alert status lights began flashing and the enemy alert sirens went off. 

          "If I could draw your attention away from your latest toy, I think you should look at this," Ruri said over the intercom and a vidwindow popped up, showing the positions of twelve dimojin robots and a small squadron of grasshoppers. "We are receiving a transmission from what we perceive to be the groups commander. Patching it through now."

          "Greetings. As you probably know I am Commander Sanoske Hashima of the Superior Male Forces." Sanoske's usual face appeared in the window. Finn dove behind Skywarp. "I demand that you surrender the pilot of this robot," He/she/it displayed an image of the ACF. "And the robot to me immediately."

          "Why should we hand him over to you?" Yurika asked, taking centre stage while everyone around her rushed for their combat stations.

          "Because he broke a promise made between two warriors. I have come to finish what we started," Sano replied. "Is he on your ship or isn't he?"

          "He's right, "Yurika turned to face where Finn had been standing. "here?" Ryoko glanced in Finn's direction before taking off for her aesti. 

          "Failure to comply will result in us opening fire, you do realize," Sano reminded them. 

          "Damnit! I'm right here already!" Finn shouted from the open cockpit of the new frame. "If you're still hung up on that 'agreement' you're nuts! I beat you. You were just a floating head."

          "This will not be resolved until one, or both of us, die," Sano explained coolly.

          "You're really grinding my gears," Finn muttered as he closed the cockpit. He tried to bring the main system online, but it fizzled out. Figuring this might happen, Finn gave the main monitor a good whack and it came to life. He clipped his helmet on and plugged his hands into the IFS. "I may not kill you, but I have no reservations about kicking your ass and keeping it that way, permanently."  The aesties had already taken off. "Alright. Lets see what you can do." He punched the thrusters and shot out of the hangar. So far no shots had been fired. The aesties were flying in a V formation towards the hovering dimojins. Finn joined them.

          "We can't fight that many of them. It takes two aesties just to bring one of them down. We're out numbered two to one." Hikaru said worriedly. They came to a stop not far from their enemy. 

          "So who's going to fire the first shot?" Akito asked, looking around.

          "You know how the Captain is sometimes," Hikaru added. Finn cranked up his thrusters and knocked his comrades with both wings.

          "What're you doing?!" Akatsuki demanded. When he looked back to where they had been a moment ago, all he saw was a wall of missiles. Ryoko had been the only one to get out of the way and not get knocked by Finn.

          "Idiots," they both said in unison. 

"We don't take turns here, you guys. And if we did, it would be our turn. Move!" Ryoko said as the dimojin's slowly lumbered forward. Finn, who was busy engaging the grasshoppers, was being forced into his seat due to the speed he was travelling at. 

"You're fast. I'll give you that," Finn said pulling up. He felt the blood rush from his upper body into his legs and tried desperately not to black out. "Wow," He said light-headedly when he pulled out of the turn. "I dizzy." He shook his head and regained his senses. "Let's see what kind of firepower you've got." Finn brought the two side cannons and the rear mounted cannons online. He fired a low power bolt from each cannon at a slow dimojin and could visibly see its distortion field shatter in front of his eyes. While it was distracted, Finn transformed Skywarp. The controls responded flawlessly. The five robot fingers had been replaced with three semi-claw like digits. The frame stopped and stood face to face with the dimojin, which took a terrified swing at him. Finn caught the robot's fist and proceeded to crush it. The dimojin then tried to fire its gravity blast cannon but Finn, having already anticipated this move, brought one of his sabres online and with one clean cut, sliced his opponent in two.   

          "Alright Sanoske. Listen up. I don't to kill people, not even if they deserve it. But you're really starting to piss me off," Finn said, turning to face the red dimojin that he took to be Sano's. "If you tuck your tail between your legs and get out of my sight, I won't hurt you." 

          "Not until we finish our duel," Sano replied plainly.

          "Alright. But you're not going to like what I have in store for you," Finn grinned behind his mask. The dimojin disappeared, having leapt into subspace in a boson jump. Finn looked around slowly, trying to find the small sparkle of light that would tell him where his enemy would appear next. However, he saw multiple ripples of light. The dimojin would appear for a split second, then disappear again. "Stop playing around already." Sano appeared right behind Finn and grabbed Finn in a giant robot bear hug and proceeded to try and crush him. 'Why does it feel like I've seen this before?' he asked himself. 

          "Unfortunately for you, my friend, this is the new model. Not a slow clunky thing like my men," Sano gloated. Finn tried his tried and true method of dealing with this problem and brought his main thrusters online. However, he forgot he wasn't in his old frames anymore. 

          "What in the…?" Finn asked himself when the frame flew forward with the dimojin still attached.

          "Remember. You're engines are one your legs!" Seiya said in a vidwindow. 

          "That's…just…prime!" Finn grunted, straining to move. Since the frame moved as though it were an extension of his body, Finn could feel the stress of the metal through his IFS. He searched his mind for something that might work. "I've got it!" With much effort, he managed to wrench his left arm free. In Skywarp's the wings were placed along the shoulder and elbow joints. Finn then proceeded to jab the part of the wing as hard and as deep as he could into Sano's chest plate. He felt, for a split second, the dimojin's grip loosen and managed to burst out of its hold. Finn quickly grabbed one of his sabres and made an attempt to sever the dimojin's head. However, his blade was intercepted by the dimojin's clawed arm. "What?" 

          "After having done a thorough exoscan of the upgraded dimojin unit, it would appear that the Jovians have equipped it with a system of mini distortion fields along both arms. This feature was no doubt added due to the increased battles in which UF robots have engaged the Jovians in hand-to-hand combat, thus giving them the upper hand when facing…"

          "Shut up already!" Finn shouted at Inez. "So you're saying this thing's got thousands of distortion fields running up and down its arms?

          "That's correct."

          "Thank you," Finn quickly closed the window. 

          "That's an impressive machine you've got there. I'm not surprised though. You have had close to a year to build it." Sano said. 

          "This is the product for a month's worth of work," Finn informed him. Sano replied by bringing one of its massive arms down on Finn's head. He managed to dive out of the way and only took a hit on the shoulder. Finn fired a few bursts at the dimojin, only have them be absorbed by its distortion field. However, during the split second Sano was distracted by the explosions of the bursts, Finn dove under him and, still holding his sabre, tore a long gash into the robot's back. Sano met this with a quick slash with one of its massive clawed hands to Finn's already damaged shoulder. "That thing wasn't built, it was poured!" Finn grit his teeth under the strain.

          "Diecast construction. It's a lost art," Sano gloated. (You Transformers fans know what I'm talking about.) Finn caught the hand on its second go around and tried to rip it free of its hinges. He managed to pop a bolt loose, and not much else. 

          "Damnit. Have to find whatever's powering that thing," Finn said to himself and he quickly glanced through the data Inez had gathered. "There's the bastard." Finn stopped at what appeared to be some kind of phase transition power core. During Finn's brief distraction, Sano landed another blow on Skywarp's head. Finn quickly grabbed his opponent by the wrist, pulled him forward only to send him flying back again with a blow just under the neck. Finn then flew around and caught the dimojin as it began to recover and thrust his robot's hands into the already gaping hole in the machine's back. He ripped away whatever he could until he finally found what he was looking for. There, deep inside the dimojin, was the PT power core. The dimojin fell strangely fast, but Finn took no notice of it, figuring that Sano would regain control of the robot any second, and quickly fired a shot that punctured the outer casing of the power core. However, Sano still made no effort to stop him. "What's going on?" Finn demanded. "Why aren't you fighting back?" He spun the dimojin around and floated face to face with it. Sano didn't answer. Instead he grabbed Finn's frame in another bear hug. Only this time, it was chest plate to chest plate instead of chest plate to back. 

          "Finally!" Sano cheered as he locked the commands into his robot. "You finally figured it out."

          "Figured what out?" Finn demanded. "Inez, what's he talking about?"

          "It would appear that from damaged inflicted…" Inez began.

          "Give me the Coles Notes," Finn interrupted. 

          "You've punched a hole in that thing's PT engine block. Being exposed it will overload and destroy itself, and you with it."

          "Maybe I shouldn't have asked," Finn struggled, but made no headway. "Is there anything I can do?"

          "To stop the overload? No. However, you might be interested in this." Inez displayed a section of the dimojin's mechanical workings. "It's the main cable leading from the commands to the dimojin's computer. If you destroy that, it might…"

          "Good enough." Fortunately for Finn, he still had an arm free. Quickly, he switched his view to a camera built into the frame's hand, and began to sift through the gash in the dimojin's back. "I'm not seeing anything. Hey, can one of you guys help me out over here?" He looked over and saw his comrades still engaged in combat with what was left grasshoppers, and the occasional gravity blast from the dimojins, who seemed to look on in amusement. Ryoko glanced in his direction, disengaged, and began to make her way towards him. However, Akatsuki moved in front of her and held his machine gun to her head.

          "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ryoko demanded.

          "The commander said this was a fight between 'two warriors'," Akatsuki said, with a big grin on his face. "We can't possibly interrupt." 

          "You…you traitor!" Ryoko tried to fly past him, but stopped when Akatsuki fired right at her thrusters.

          "If I were a traitor, do you think I'd do this?" He fired a missile barrage at one of the weakened dimojins, blowing both legs and a good section of its middle off into space. The rest of the aestivalis pilots were too busy fighting off the other ten dimojins by themselves to notice what was going on. They weren't faring too well either. All Hikaru, Izumi, and Akito could really do under such an amazing numerical disadvantage was dodge and maybe land a few shots on their enemy's distortion fields. "I'm merely upholding the warrior's code of honour." 

          Meanwhile Finn continued to sift through the interior workings of the red dimojin. 

          "Come on, come on. Where are you?" he said to himself. "Can't you give me any better direction than that?"

          "You've already inflicted severe damage on this unit. With all the damage it is difficult to pinpoint where your objective is with any degree of precision," Inez explained.

          "You don't seem to be all that concerned about it."

          "No, I guess not. Who lives and who dies doesn't really mean that much to me…"

          "I've already heard that part." Finn closed the window and went back to what he was doing. . "Finally. There you are." He said, catching a glimpse of the cable he sought. However, it was too far into the dimojin's body for him to be able to grab it. 

          "It won't be long now!" Sano said in a very insane kind of laughter.

          "You shut up!" Finn yelled at the loony bin. "Come on!" He made another reach for the large cable, only to just miss it. He brought the arm mounted cannon online. "Oooh boy." He sweat bullets behind his mask. "I hope this works." He used the hand camera's view to aim. When all the crosshairs lined up and turned to solid red, he closed his eyes and fired a small shot. Nothing happened. "Come on!" He struggled. Finally, he gave the dimojin a hard blow on the back and he felt the arms give a little. Quickly, and with every bit of strength he could muster, he began to force his way out of the dimojin's grasp. Light began to pour from the robot's back. "That doesn't mean anything good." When he finally burst free, he quickly took his sabre and began to work on cutting the head of the dimojin off.

          "Such heroic nonsense," Akatsuki looked on, amused. "I'm surprised you still won't kill the guy,"

          "No one asked you," Finn shot back. Ryoko seized Akatsuki's momentary distraction, knocked the gun out of his hand, and quickly flew over to where Finn was working. "What are you doing?" Finn asked when he saw Ryoko working the other side of the dimojin's neck with her small distortion blade. "Get out of here."

          "Nu uh." Ryoko replied. "It'll take too long for you to do this by yourself." 

          "But…gah, fine." Finn continued to hack away. The head was very securely held down to the body. Even though his weapon had sliced cleanly into the thing's back, the neck was proving to be quite stubborn. "Stand back for a sec." He gave Ryoko a slight push and she backed off. Finn raised his blade high over his head and began to slash the neck apart with quick, hard blows. Finally, after repeatedly slashing, the head wobbled on one last hinge. Ryoko pulled it off and they began to fly away from the ticking time bomb. "Shit. I don't know how, but somehow he managed to bash up my left thrusters," Finn said, trying to connect the frame's legs so that they could work in sync. 

          "Here." Ryoko handed him the head, containing the cockpit and Sano, and wedged herself under his left arm. She then cranked up her thrusters to full. Finn redirected as much energy as he could through his right engine and they began to pull out of the blast zone. "This should be far enough," She said when they had come halfway between the dimojin and the battle between the other dimojins and aestivalises. 

          "Here." Finn handed her back the head. "Get behind me and get ready to put your engines to full." He brought his two shoulder cannons and his two arm cannons online and began to charge them up. "Tenkawa, try and lure them away from the Nadesico and get out of the way!" he ordered.

          "What? Whoa shit!" Akito exclaimed, noticing the energy that was building around the barrels of Finn's cannons. "You're clear!" Akito and the other pilots all scattered away from the dimojins, which were floating in a cluster. 

          "Do you know what you're doing?" Ryoko asked.

          "Not a clue. But I've got better things to do tonight than die," Finn replied. "Now!" The energy that had built up within the cannons was channelled into four massive waves of energy and erupted from them in a giant yellow flash of light. "Come on baby, keep it together." The dimojins turned to vapour within the blast and seemed to fade from view. Meanwhile, Ryoko tried to prevent the force of the blast from pushing them both back towards the overloading PT engine inside Sano's robot. Finally, the blast subsided and they made their way back towards the Nadesico. 

          "Hey, why hasn't that thing blown yet?" Hikaru asked as she flew inside the ship and into the hangar.

          "It's possible that the engine merely shorted out and was not overloading after all." Inez said.

          "That's just great." Finn said, floating just outside the hangar doors. He fired a small bolt flying in the dimojin's direction. "You mean I…I mean we did that all for nothing?" He turned and began to enter the hangar when, suddenly, the dimojin disappeared in a bright flash of an explosion, followed by a shockwave that blew Finn into the hangar. "Or maybe I was wrong," he said, dazed. He managed to park Skywarp into the restraints they had managed to piece together alongside the aesties. From his left monitor he could see Sano being led off, his hands bound behind his back. Hopping out, he saw Akatsuki talking to Seiya on the main deck of the hangar. He flew down the stairs and walked up to him, delivering a hard punch to his face with his metal hand. "What the hell were you thinking back there?"

          "I was just…" Akatsuki hit the wall as another fist connected with his face. 

          "What were you thinking?!" Ryoko demanded. 

          "So you'll kill ordinary soldiers, but you won't kill him?" Akatsuki asked, glancing in Sano's direction.

          "I make a rule not to kill people if I've seen their faces," Finn said.

          "All pilots, please report to the bridge for debriefing," Megumi's voice said over the comlink.

          "We'll talk about this later," Finn said, and he and Ryoko left.

**Betrayal!**

          Finn, Ryoko, Yurika, and Akatsuki had gathered on the bridge. It was several hours after the incident in the hangar and the Nadesico had moved into a position just outside the Delphinium station in Earth's upper atmosphere. "Just what happened out there, Lt. Saotome?" Yurika asked. They were standing on the main floor of the bridge while Akatsuki waited up on the top deck. 

          "He's a traitor. He deliberately prevented me from aiding Finn during the battle," Ryoko said. Finn nodded in agreement. "Not to mention he threatened to blow my aesti's head off if I tried to help him."

          "Akatsuki. What do you have to say about all this?" Yurika asked.

          "Well, I wouldn't have had to resort to it if Saotome was playing his part." Akatsuki said, leaning casually against the captain's control panel. 

          "What do you mean 'play his part'? What are you doing?!" she cried when she noticed Akatsuki fiddling with the controls. 

          "Oh nothing," he said, pulling out the master key. 

          "I thought only the captain of the Nadesico could remove that key…" she said, puzzled.

          "That's what you'd like to think. But there's one other. The chairman of Nergal supersedes you, right?" Akatsuki tossed the key into the air and caught it. "Which means, that I must be the chairman of Nergal."

          "You piece of…" Finn began making his way towards the control panel and Akatsuki. 

          "I wouldn't try that if I were you," he said and gave a quick whistle. A techie, who had appeared to have been working on something on the bridge, drew a gun and aimed it at Finn. More armed officers came onto the bridge. They ranged from techies to janitors, all armed. Finn pushed the soldier out of his way and continued up the steps. Just as was about to draw his own sidearm, Akatsuki put his hand up. "You might want to consider the safety of others before acting." He motioned to where the captain and Ryoko were standing. Finn backed down. "Come with me." He led Finn off the bridge, followed by three soldiers, and into the captain's readyroom. He sat down behind the desk and crossed his arms. "You know, there is a way out of this."

          "Oh? Gee, tell me tell me," Finn said sarcastically.

          "Do you know why the Nadesico was sent to Mars?" Akatsuki asked.

          "The reason Nergal gave was that it was trying to rescue the Martian settlers. But that seems too noble a cause for someone like you could come up with," Finn said. "There was probably something else you were after."

          "We were looking to obtain information from one of the computers at a Mars research station," Akatsuki explained. "Prospector had orders to copy that data and return it to me. Of course, he thought had something to do with the Martians."

          "So just what were you after?" Finn inquired.

          "Information on boson jumping, more precisely, on where the jump computer is. But Prospector came back empty handed. He said the files had been wiped clean. Possibly a power surge or magnetic disturbance when the chulips started hitting Mars," Akatsuki went on. "But I know that the information was stored on hard disks, and they, to everyone's amazement, had been destroyed."

          "Too bad for you, Finn said.

          "But you made a backup copy," Akatsuki said, pointing a finger in Finn's direction. Finn shrugged. "Where is it?"

          "I don't know what you're talking about," Finn replied. Akatsuki made a gesture at one of the guards, who hauled Finn out of his seat and threw him against the wall.

          "Where is it?" Akatsuki asked again.

          "Gone," Finn laughed/choked. "Ain't that a kick in the lug nuts?" 

          "Guard?" Akatsuki said and the guard hit Finn across the face with the butt of his gun. "Now, give it to me."

          "Gimmie gimmie never get, haven't learned you manners yet?" Finn laughed lightly. This time it was Akatsuki that delivered the blow.

          "I'm tired of playing around here," he said angrily. "You made a backup copy on Mars. You wouldn't erase something that important. You'd have kept it as an ace up your sleeve."

          "The only thing worse than the pain in my mouth," Finn spit out some blood. "Is the bullshit spewing from yours."

          "Tell me what I want to know. Now," Akatsuki said angrily. 

          You know," Finn said, totally ignoring Akatsuki. "You're like a child. You whine and complain and manipulate people so you can get what you want. And when all else fails you just start being a shit disturber."

          "Bring her in," Akatsuki said. One of the guards left, and returned a moment later pushing Ryoko through the door. "I'm not naïve, you know. I don't think there's a person aboard this ship that hasn't seen how close you two have become." The guard pushed Ryoko into a seat.  

          "You sound like one of those cartoon characters. Like you've crossed the line from the every day villainy of pissing me off to cartoonish super villainy." Finn earned himself another hit in the face for that one.

          "Personally I don't know what you see in her." Akatsuki said, raising Ryoko's chin and looking at her straight in the face. "Sure she's got a great body, but what could you see in this coldblooded killer of a human being? All she does is fight."

          "Bite me," Ryoko pulled away.

          "I suppose if you're into the rough stuff…" Akatsuki began.

          "Shut up already. No one wants to here your babbling anymore," Finn said. Akatsuki gave him a swift punch to the gut. "Why do I sense a recurring pattern here?" Finn wheezed. The guard let go of him and he slowly slid down the wall and onto the floor. 

          "I'm going to make you a simple offer," Akatsuki said, taking his gun out of its holster and sliding a clip into it.

          "Let me guess," Finn said, still recovering his breath. "First you're going to tell me to give you what you want. When I refuse and spit in your face, you're going to hold your gun to her head and threaten to kill her. And when I again tell you to bite me you'll hit her to prove you're serious. Then the general idea is to kill her. Am I close?"

          "That sounds about right," Akatsuki said.

          "But remember, you kill her, and you loose your only bargaining chip."

          "But you won't let that happen," Akatsuki said.

          "Probably not." Finn looked at Ryoko and motioned something with his eyes. She nodded while Akatsuki went on. 

          "So why don't we just get straight to the point? You give me the disks, and I'll spare her life." Finn didn't reply. "What are you waiting for?" Akatsuki turned his head at looked at Finn. Ryoko took this opportunity to launch herself at him, knocking the gun out of his hands. Finn quickly delivered a swift kick to the guard closest to him, grabbed the gun out of his hands, and shot the two guards standing by the door. Ryoko had grabbed Akatsuki's gun and was hauling him to his feet. "I thought you didn't like killing." 

          "Right now I'm willing to make an exception," Finn replied. "But they're not dead anyway." One of the guards groaned slightly. Finn quickly grabbed a set of handcuffs from one of the guards and locked Akatsuki's hands behind his back. 

          "So what are you going to do now?" Akatsuki asked. "Half the crew is under my command. It's not like you could get very far." Finn looked at Ryoko, who grinned back. Finn was still in his pilot's suit.

          From the outside, Yurika looked over when the ready room door slid open. Finn emerged first, helmet snapped on and ready to go.

          "Alright," he said. "You two drop your weapons and lay down on the floor." The guard smirked. "And believe me I'm not going to take any crap from you."

          "What if I don't?" the guard asked.

          "Bring him out." Finn stepped aside and Akatsuki appeared with Ryoko holding a gun to his back. "If you don't do as I say then we'll have to implement operation human shield here." The guard looked confused. Finn fired a shot that missed the guard's head by a hair, but he didn't flinch that much. "Damn. Captain, can't you take a hint?"

          "What?" Yurika asked confused. 

          "Aww forget it." Finn shot the guard in the arm, causing him to drop his gun and fall to the floor in pain, and gave the other one a shot to the leg. Finn quickly ran over, scooped the guns up, and handed one to Yurika. "The rest of you." Finn turned and aimed at the three other guards who were trying to line up a decent shot. "Look, I know you guys know I don't like shooting people. But I'm beginning to get very VERY pissed off here. So just drop them and come down." They didn't exactly do what he said. Instead they aimed at him. Finn heaved a sigh. "Fine." They opened fire and Finn fell to his knees before sinking to the floor.

          "Let the Chairman go," they said. Just then, two of them fell to the floor. One held his shoulder while the other clutched his stomach. "What the hell?"

          "Just drop it," Finn said, irritated. "Oh come on! You don't think I was that stupid, did you?" The guard threw down his gun angrily. Finn walked up to a security compartment behind the captain's station and pulled out a few sets of handcuffs. He then proceeded to lock all of their captives to the railing at the very front of the bridge. Next, he took their communicators and crushed them under his foot. Ryoko pulled the security locks down on all the doors leading to the bridge, thus effectively locking any wouldbe Akatsuki flunkies from coming onto the bridge. 

          "So what's next?" Yurika asked. "We can't stay here forever. What's the plan?"

          "Well, first I plan to soil myself. Then I plan to regroup and come up with a new plan," Finn replied.

          "That's not helping," Ryoko sounded irritated. "What are we going to do with them?"

          "Just leave them there. They're not going anywhere," Finn said and led them into the ready room, closing the door behind them. Ryoko climbed up on Finn's shoulders and, with the help of a screw driver they had picked up off one of the maintenance guards, opened the vent. She then pulled herself up and reached down. 

          "Captain?" she said. Yurika nodded and, with a boost from Finn, climbed up into the ventilator shaft. 

          "Just what exactly are you two thinking?" she asked. "Why didn't we just take the key from Akatsuki and bring the engines back online?"

          "It's a nice thought." Finn said, pulling the grate back on and wedging it into place. "But then what? We're out gunned and out numbered. I have a better idea. Follow me." He began to make his way down the vent. They continued this way for a while. The tricky part was trying to make turns in the narrow passage. Finally, Finn came to a halt. "It's clear." He shuffled around and kicked the grate off, and then jumping down. "It's alright. No one's around here."

          "Where are we?" Yurika asked, after having climbed out.

          "The engine room," Ryoko said, jumping down. 

          "What can we do from here?" Yurika asked. "The engines are dead."

          "You'd be surprised." Finn said, pulling a panel off the wall. He then began to search through the wiring. "Let's just hope the rest of them figure it out." Ryoko began working on a panel. "Ready?" She nodded. "Ok. Cut that one on three. Three, two, one, now." The lights cut out. Finn then crossed two wires on his end and the alarm system sprung to life. The red alarms lit up the room, and the rest of the ship. 

          "Now what?" Yurika asked.

          "We run," Finn said, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out the door. The sound alarms buzzing and the lights flashing seemed to produce the desired results. When he reached the main corridor there were people running everywhere. Some had guns, some didn't. It seemed to be some sort of melee. Finn saw Akito run by and quickly pulled him out of the crowd. 

          "What the?" he said, surprised.

          "It's ok," Finn said. "Is it working?"

          "The alarms just triggered a frenzy. They had us locked up in the cafeteria, but when the alarms started going off, everything just went crazy. I take it you're behind this," Akito said.

          "Look, I need you to take the Captain and whoever else you can find and get them off the ship. Take them somewhere," Finn said, pushing Yurika into him.

          "Right," Akito grabbed Yurika by the wrist and they disappeared into the chaos that filled the corridor. Finn and Ryoko then made their way to the hangar, which was in chaos as well. Hikaru and Izumi's aestis were already gone, Akito was on his way out. And Jun was busy climbing into one of the air combat frames.

          "Remember where we meet," he said, standing on the catwalk as Ryoko got her aesti ready for launch. 

          "Roger." Ryoko made her way towards the door. Finn scrambled to Skywarp. However, just as he was climbing into the cockpit, he was grabbed by two guards. Ryoko stopped. Quickly, while he still had a hand free he shouted into his communicator. "Just go!" Ryoko didn't move. "Move it!" He said with a voice she had never heard him use. The hangar doors began to close. She stayed there a few seconds longer, then reluctantly burst out of the hangar, leaving Finn in the hands of the enemy.

  
**Mater of the House**

          "He's dangerous. We should finish him now," a UF officer said, looking at Finn through the energy screen of his cell on the Nadesico's brig. The Nadesico had been towed to Earth by a UF ship and was docked at the Kyoko Regional United Forces base. 

          "I don't think we need to be so harsh. He still has one piece of information I'm interested in," Akatsuki said. "In any case, we can just leave him here for the time being. He won't be going anywhere." They left the room. "Ah, Miss Howmei. Nice to see you didn't mutiny with the rest of them," He said as the door closed. "What are you doing?"

          "I still have an obligation to feed the members of this crew. Even if he happens to be in prison," she said and entered the brig.

          "Shouldn't we stop her?" one of the UF officers asked.

          "She can't do anything without the right command card," Akatsuki said, and they continued on their way.

          "You've really done it this time," Miss Howmei said, eyeing the guard left to make sure Finn didn't try anything.

          "I've been in worse. Besides, this is very educational," Finn replied. His suit hung on the wall beside him. "So what brings you here?"

          "Here." She pushed the tray through a small metal door at the base of the cell. 

"Any pets these days?"

          "Just one. I have a kitten back at the mess hall," Miss Howme said.  Finn nodded with a slight grin and she left him. "I have to go now. It can get a bit hectic since the girls got demoted."

          "Where did they end up?" 

          "Some kind of Nergal office. Stacking books," she replied. "I'll bring you something else a little later. Just don't go anywhere."

          "Sarcasm, not appreciated," Finn said as she left. "Let's see what we've got here." He peeled back the foil and dug into the spaghetti and meatballs Miss Howmei had brought for him. ****

          Later on, Finn woke to the sound of the heavy metal door sliding open, followed by footsteps. He opened one eye and saw what he could in the dim light. 

          "Get in there," someone said. The shuffling of footsteps followed. He heard the energy screen go up.

          "So, what are you in for?" Finn asked, adding a small laugh at end of it. His fellow prisoner didn't seem to hear him. Whoever it was just lay slumped on the bunk gasping for air.

          "You should have killed me," the person in the cell next to him said. It was pretty obvious who it was.

          "As much as I'd like to and as much as you deserve it, sorry," Finn replied. The room was very dark. The only light came from a small security light by the door. "I'm kind of disappointed though."

          "Why's that?" Sano asked.

          "I'd have thought they'd at least leave a guard or something. They don't seem to think that much of me," Finn laughed again.

          "You must be insane," Sano said accusingly. 

          "So they say, my friend. So they say." 

          "How can you take all this so light heartedly? Do you realize what kind of a fix you're in?" Sano asked.

          "Yep. It's a dilly of a pickle."

          "So then how can you just sit there and make stupid jokes?" Sano seemed very angry at this point and had punched the metal walls of his cell in frustration. The sound reverberated throughout the room. 

          "What good would worrying about it accomplish?" Finn asked. 

          "So you're going to just sit there and merrily go along with whatever they have planned for you?

          "Pretty much." 

          "Damnit, how can you just sit there and laugh?!" Sano hit the wall of his cell again.

          "Because, my karmatically challenged friend. I'm worth more to them alive than I am dead," Finn explained simply. "With the kind of punishment we've been taking from your side lately, they're going to want to keep me around. Especially now that Skywarp's up and running."

          "And what about me?"

          "Capturing such a high ranking officer is like getting the golden goose. As long as you cooperate they'll probably let you live. Maybe even go back to Jupiter or wherever you came from if we win," Finn said. "So what exactly did they do to you to put you in this kind of state?" he said after a while. "Hello?" He said after receiving no response. "Oh well." He closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep. 

          "Alright Saotome. Sleepy time's over," Akatsuki said, standing just outside the cell.

          "Five more minutes." Finn rolled over.

          "Wake him." A guard turned off the energy screen and threw Finn off the bunk and crashing into a wall.

          "Ah, good morning," he said, bringing himself to his feet. "Thanks for the wake up call, soldier. As you were." He gave a mock salute. The guard, not amused by Finn's antics, quickly slapped a pair of handcuffs on him and led him out of the cell. 

          It was not until some time later that they brought him back. He was tossed back into his cell, blood slowly slipped from his chin as he took in breath, only to choke on his own blood. He coughed it onto the floor and slowly pulled himself onto the bunk.

          "We're handing him over to you tomorrow. We don't need him anymore, and our new battleship is almost ready, since we can't use the Nadesico without her master key. Unfortunately it was lost during the chaos of the mutiny," Akatsuki said outside the door. "I hope you have better luck with him than we did."

          "Well, well, well," Sano said from the other side of the wall when the door closed. They had neglected to leave a light on, yet again. The only light came from the tiny glow of the energy screens that kept them in their tiny cells. "Not laughing now? So what do you think of our situation now, I wonder?"

          "Very," Finn managed to say. "Very educational." He collapsed, laying face down on his bunk as to not choke on his own blood, which his slowly dripped from his mouth, staining the rough fabric of the blanket, and seeping through on to the floor. Miss Howmei came in a few minutes later, wheeling a small cart into the room. She turned on the light, seeing that the guard had left for the night, and crossed her arms, looking at Finn.

          "You've really done it this time, Saotome," she said, seeing him laying there. He had stopped bleeding, but while he had been laying there the greater half of the bunk was stained a deep red. A small pool had collected on the floor around him. His face was pretty much black and his cloths were torn here and there. "If it were anyone else in there they'd have snapped a long time ago."

          "Hey, what are a few punches here and there?" Finn said, opening his eyes. "How's the kitten?"

          "She's doing fine," she said, sliding a tray into his cell. "She should meow any day now."

          "Any day? It's only been…" 

          "A week and a half," Miss Howmei interrupted. 

"How time flies." 

"How much longer can you keep this up?"

          "As long as it takes. Besides, I've been in worse," he said, sounding slightly out of it. 

          "What exactly is it they want?" Miss Howme asked. "They've kept everything pretty hush-hush."

          "Just looking for a little bobble."

          "I guess you don't have it." 

          "Nu uh. And I have the bruises to prove it." Finn peeled back the foil on his tray and took a hot roll from it. He rolled onto his back and nibbled on it. "Any word from the good doctor?"

          "Inez is still around. A few others who mutinied came back. But most of them are still at large. I hear that they found Megumi. She's back voice acting." Miss Howme slid a tray into Sano's cell.

          "What trickery is this?" he/she asked.

          "Don't mind him…her…whatever. The gender confused person next to me," Finn said. "Relax. If Howmei here hands it to you, don't worry about it. Anything those thugs give you, watch out."

          "I'm sorry I couldn't get you a knife and fork. But after that stunt you pulled yesterday, when you…"

          "Gave Akatsuki's knee an introduction to aluminium?" Finn laughed. "He had it coming. Besides, it was worth seeing his face. You'd have thought I shot him or something."

          "I have to get back now," Miss Howmei said, getting up and wheeling the cart to the door. "Keep your ears open. Maybe you'll hear my kitten meow." Finn nodded. She turned out the light and left. 

          "This stuff is…" Sano began.

          "Pretty good eh?" Finn interrupted and took a sip of miso. 

          "I was going to say different," Sano said. 

          "You don't get food like this?"

          "No." Sano tasted the fried rice and then dug into it with his hands.

          "So when what do you eat? Some pill that you swallow or something?" 

          "Actually, you're not far off," Sano said in between mouthfuls. "In the Superior Male Forces they give us these dry bars that give you enough nutrition and energy for a day's worth of work."

          "Poor bastard," Finn said, taking another sip of miso. "Why's it like that? How come no cooks?"

          "We're a little short on man power. We need all the men we can get just to fight, and our robots can only do so much. They can fight, but cooking is a task that has yet to be perfected. They can't tell if something's gone bad or if it taste's funny," Sano explained.

          "Too bad Akito didn't get sucked into that chulip instead of me. He might have been able to make you roasted duck or something."

          "There's another problem with having cooks." 

          "What's that?"

          "Our farming colonies can only produce so much. There's enough to provide civilians with the basics like grains and stuff. But when it comes to stocking ships full of this stuff," Sano tapped his tray. "There's not exactly a lot to go around."

          "Bummer," Finn chewed on his bread. "If the food's so bad, why did you enlist?"

          "That's a simple enough question," Sano gave a slight laugh. "It's because I wanted to beat you men at your own game. Women can't get good jobs. We can't fight. All we're supposed to do is serve the men."

          "Oooh boy. A gender confused, honour bound, feminazi. Just what I needed." Finn made the 'blah blah blah' motion in the dark, but, of course, it was not seen.

          "When I was young, I walked into a recruitment centre. Just to see what kind of reaction I'd get. Not only was I turned down, I was humiliated. Oh sure, they explained about how 'it's not a lady's war' and so on. But I could tell they were just…"

          "Oppressing women, right? I've heard it all before. You've studied Earth history, right? Way back when, women were told the same thing. They couldn't get good jobs, or join the military, or hold political office. Jovians go on and on about how 'civilized' and 'proper' they are. How everything's so much nicer. Looks to me like you guys've skipped a few chapters and missed the whole equality thing," Finn said. 

"But I also wanted to fight the Earth. To avenge our proud and noble ancestors," Sano said. 

"Oh please," Finn laughed again. "This really killed me, how everywhere I saw signs about how you guys were 'crushing the barbaric savages of the Earth'. But we're not the ones going around slaughtering innocent people just because they happen to have been born into Earth society. In my opinion, it's really you guys who are the 'savages' here. Do you know how many people you've killed. Innocent people. Millions on Mars. Millions on the Moon. Sure, the Earth nuked your ancestors. Am I proud of that? No. But it was over a hundred years ago. Everyone even alive during that time has been dead for years. You don't have to take out your frustrations on people who don't even know who don't even know who or what's attacking them. Do you know what the general public thinks the Jovians are? Alien lizards from Jupiter," Finn ranted on. "If they actually KNEW what was going on, they'd probably help you destroy the UF. Hey, I'd be in there with them."

"So then why do you fight? Why do you protect the UF when you yourself know if their injustices?"

"You still don't get it, do you? I don't fight because I want to. I fight because that's just happens to be what I do. But if I just decided to quit, who would be left to keep all those people still alive on Earth from having chulips dropped on them? I'm committed to seeing this thing through," Finn said with a touch of anger in his voice. "Let me ask you one question. What would you prefer? A victory achieved by blowing the UF away, or a negotiated peace? I take it it's too late for a 'forgive and forget' kind of thing."

"As you put it, I'm committed to seeing this thing through. It's too late for forgiveness, on either side," Sano said. Finn shook his head in the dark and ended their conversation right there.

**Home Sweet Home**

          It was difficult to tell how long they sat there in silence in the dark. Finn drifted in and out of sleep. The isolation in that tiny cell was beginning to take its psychological toll, at least on Sano anyway. Finn still laughed and joked. Although whether it was for the usual reasons or just insanity, it was hard to tell. Finn awoke to a strange noise, or rather, lack there of. He sat up and listened. There was nothing. But that's just it. 

          'Looks like the cat's about to start meowing,' he thought. And, as if on queue, a small vidwindow popped up from his communicator. There was Ruri on the other side of the screen in her warm cat outfit.

          "You look like, for lack of a better term, shit," Ruri said plainly.

          "Yeah, I ain't the spitting image of my beauty I used to be," Finn sweatdropped. "I was wondering what took you so long," he added quietly.

          "The messages I'm sending has been specially encrypted so that only you can receive them. As a result, however, there maybe some degradation. For that I apologize. I hope you are all well," Ruri went on. "I'm sorry for not having contacted you sooner, but I've been having trouble teaching Omoikane how to imitate the personality of Nergal's replacement programme."

          "You mean the computer was acting?" Finn heard Megumi ask from one of Ruri's windows. 

          "That's correct. But Omoikane doesn't like pretending," Ruri replied. "In any case, I'm very glad to tell you that the Nadesico as we know it is still alive."

          "Isn't it cold living in that refrigerator, Ruri-Ruri?" Minato asked.

          "Yes, it has. But since I borrowed this outfit from Miss Howmei I've been fine. I'm much tougher than you might think." Ruri gave a small smile. Somewhere out there, Finn heard a wrench hit the floor. "Along time ago the Admiral, our Admiral, told us that the Nadesico is our ship. And in spite of everything, that's how I still feel. The Nadesico is ours. And it's time to take her back!" The energy screen imprisoning Finn sparked, then fizzled out. 

          "Time to get to work," he said getting up. "Let's just hope this all goes according to plan." He suited up.

          "What's going on?" Sano asked, still half asleep. Finn walked over to Sano's cell and hauled him out of his bunk. Quickly, he gave a swift, but hard, punch to his face.

          "You just sleep tight, nighty night," Finn dropped him back into his bunk and left. He walked down the corridor until he reached the security office, which was protected by bullet proof glass. "Hello!" Finn banged on the glass. "Thanks for a great time. I'll be on my way now." 

          "What? Stop him!" The guard fell backwards in his chair.

          "Looks like it's time for us to get a little rough, Omoikane." Ruri pressed her hands against the IFS pad. A little window popped up with "Ok!" on it.  Meanwhile, Finn watched as the security shutters encased the security room and listened while the doors locked themselves. Quickly he made his way to the hangar. The Nadesico had been pretty much abandoned since it docked. The only people still on board were the security personnel that were supposed to be 'guarding' Finn.  

          "Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy," he said to himself, walking across the deserted hangar deck and climbing the stairs up to his frame. 

          Meanwhile…

          "Damnit, they don't seem to care that we're not shooting back," Ryoko said, dodging another missile launched from attack helicopters. 

          "Don't worry about them, Ryoko," Yurika chirped from beside her. "It's only a little further until we get to the Nadesico."

          "Please don't interfere with my mood swings, Captain," Ryoko replied.

          "Hello ladies!" came a familiar voice. Finn's face popped up in Ryoko's cockpit. "Care for an escort?" Finn transformed and took position beside her.

          "About time you got here," Ryoko said, dodging another missile. "I can't believe they're shooting over a city."

          "I'll take care of them," Finn dropped back and flew straight for the fighters pursuing them. The then gave a little juice to his engines, flipped over the front of the fighter, and stood on its wings, holding onto the tail fin. He then shifted all his weight to the left and threw the fighter to the ground, sending it crashing into a pond.

          "Show off," Ryoko muttered, watching Finn then hang from the underside of another fighter, causing it to do barrel roles. A missile struck his distortion field, blowing the fighter up and sending Finn plummeting and the pilot bailing out.

          "I get the feeling my jet judo needs a little more work," he laughed..

          "Oh? What makes you say that?" Ryoko asked. "Tree!"

          "Nah, my knee's alright."

          "No, tree!" She pointed in front of him.

          "What? Wah!" Finn smashed right through a stand of trees, leaving a huge rip right through the city's downtown park. "Heh heh. Woops."

          "We're almost there." Ryoko checked her battery.

          "You're late, Ryoko!" Hikaru piped up. Izumi was signing some gibberish. "Here, Captain." Ryoko pulled something out from under her seat.

          "What is it?" Yurika asked.

          "You might need this." Ryoko handed her the master key to a certain ship as they landed in the hangar.

          "Have no fear!" Yurika burst onto the bridge. "Your captain's here! V!" Everyone sweatdropped.

          "I'm sorry I'm late," Megumi came in after her. "Opening communication channels."

          "WEEEEEE WHOOOOO!!!" Finn flipped himself off another UF fighter. He then transformed Skywarp into jet mode and weaved along the downtown streets of Kyoto. Skimming the deserted streets, apparently having the time of his life.

          "If you're not busy, Lt. Saotome…" Megumi interrupted Finn's little joy ride. "We need you for a second."

          "They know we're not shooting back," Akito said, his aesti's treads on full and blasting down a highway.

          "We will guarantee your safety!" came a voice over a loud speaker, from one of the helicopters pursuing him. 

          "Yeah right," Jun said.

          "And we only have thirty minutes of power left in the batteries," Akito said, diving under a bridge. 

          "Wait a sec, our batteries are recharging," Minato said as the Nadesico came into view overhead. "Wah!"

          "Need a lift?" Finn stood directly in their path. Akito skidded to a stop a mere fingers width away from Skywarp. Finn extended his hand and Akito took it. He then punched the engines and hauled them up to the waiting Nadesico. The helicopters bugged out upon seeing the massive Nadesico burst from the water. Finn pulled Akito, who had Minato and Jun with him, up to the outside deck. And followed them into the hangar. 

          "I wasn't sure you guys would come," Finn said, climbing out of Skywarp. 

          "And we didn't know if anyone else would," Akito replied and they made their way to the bridge.

          "So what's next?" Finn asked, still suited up.

          "Next we have to retrieve crew members from all over the planet," Prospector said. "For a percentage, of course," he added quickly.

          "I have a lock on the positions of all missing crew members from their communicators," Ruri said. 

"I trust you have a plan, Captain?" Prospector inquired. 

"That's correct. But first we have to concentrate on finding the rest of our crew," Yurika said in her usually excessively cheery voice. Finn looked around for Ryoko, but didn't see her. He left the bridge in search of her. His feet made slight clunking noises on the floor as he walked. Finally, he stopped at one door. He hesitated for a moment before opening it.

"Took you long enough," came a familiar voice, when he finally did open the door. 

"Sorry, I kinda…was having a little too much fun," Finn replied, thinking back to his antics earlier. He stepped in and closed the door. Through the glass, the sun was beginning to rise. Ryoko sat down on the grass and Finn joined her.

"How was your vacation?" he asked after a few minutes had passed.

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied, remembering  having to camp out in the woods with hyper-chick Hikaru and undead insane Izumi. "How was yours?" she said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the silence between them. "And take that thing off. How do I know you're not making faces at me behind that thing?" Finn took a long, deep breath and slowly unfastened his helmet. When he lifted the metal construct from his head, he turned and looked Ryoko in the eyes, which grew large with shock. "What…how…?" She stammered, seeing his black and purple face with dried blood around his mouth and hair. She reached out and gently touched the black spot over Finn's left eye. He winced at her touch and pulled away slightly. 

"It's not pretty, I know," Finn said, looking at the brightening horizon. 

"Why did they do this to you?" Ryoko asked. "They couldn't have beaten you up this badly just for starting our revolt?" 

"Nah. Only the first set of bruises were for that. I have something that 'chairman' Akatsuki wants," Finn said. 

"What is it?"

"You'll see soon enough." 

"Why can't you tell me?" she demanded, not taking no for an answer. "Tell me. Or will I have to add another shade of black and purple to your face?" Finn looked at her, she was on the attack.

"I can't. It's…it's just too big," he said. Ryoko began to persist but, seeing his expression, rested her head on his shoulder and felt somewhat content staring at the pink and orange sky. The clouds sitting on the horizon were bright pink, with an orange and red background painted behind it. It looked as though the sky were on fire, slowly growing in the night. After a long time had passed she lifted her head up and looked at him. Feeling her pull away from him, Finn roused from the light slumber he had fallen into. They locked eyes and stared at each other. Slowly, their faces began to draw closer and closer. Ryoko closed her eyes and Finn did the same. She could feel his breath on her face, and hers on his. 

"Hey Saotome, I…" Seiya's face appeared between them in a vidwindow. "Sorry Saotome, I'm just not that way." Finn fell backwards. "Look, the Captain wants to see you. And after that we need you down at the hangar."

"Can't this wait?" Finn asked. But when he looked at Ryoko, he knew the mood was already killed.

"The Captain said it was urgent," Seiya replied. "And why am I telling you this? Why couldn't the captain?" he added to himself. "Anyway, just get up here."

 "Alright, I'm coming," Finn stood up and ran to the door. However, before he left, he gave her one last look. They looked at each other for a moment, then Finn took off down the hall, making a mental note to turn off his communicator next time. 

**Follow the Bloodstained Path**

          "Say what?" Finn said. "You mean we're not going with the plan?"

          "Before we resort to such drastic measures, I want to see if negotiations are possible. Maybe we can bring this war to an end by talking instead of shooting," Yurika explained.

          "But…you don't understand, Captain," Finn protested. "Look, maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but it's like this. I know what makes these guys tick. From being cooped up in the brig with commander crazy for a week and a half and from having fought these people, they're not interested in peace. They want total domination over Earth, Mars, Jupiter, the whole lot. They're out for revenge. Don't you understand?"

          "I understand perfectly. But that still won't prevent us from trying to establish peace, even if it is unlikely," Yurika replied. "Ruri? Have all the missing crewmembers been retrieved?"

          "Aye, Captain," Ruri replied. "Orders?"

          "Set course for Mars. This started on Mars and it will end on Mars," Yurika ordered. "Minato, bring the PT engines online."

          "Roger, Captain," Minato hit some controls and the four phase transition engines came to life and they left the Earth's outer atmosphere. 

The next few days were very boring. They passed the UF fleet that was slowly but steadily on its way to Mars for a final confrontation with the Jovians. They had amassed all of their remaining forces and had just left the Moon's orbit. After five days of travel, they stumbled across a small Jovian strike force which, as soon as the Nadesico came into sensor range, began attacking. The pilots scrambled.

          "Tenkawa, you and Izumi take the left flank. Hikaru, you're with me." Ryoko ordered. "Saotome…"

          "Seek and destroy?" Finn guessed, dropping into his seat and fastening himself in.

          "Right," Ryoko said as she closed her cockpit.

          "Stop!" a giant vidwindow opened in the middle of the hangar, displaying Yurika's face. "I want all of you to stop right there."

          "Have you lost your mind?" Akito asked.

          "Have you lost yours?" Yurika answered. "We're supposed to be trying to establish peace negotiations, not start the second battle of Mars here. Or have you all forgotten that?" The Nadesico shuddered under a gravity blast.

          "It doesn't seem like they're too interested in sitting down for milk and cookies," Finn said, detaching Skywarp from its restraints. "Not that I couldn't use a snack."

          "Hold on!" Yurika shouted again. "Just give me a few minutes to whoa!" She fell over as the Nadesico shook again.

          "For crying out loud." Finn sat Skywarp down and waited. 

          "Megumi, try to establish a communications link between us and the Jovian flag ship," Yurika ordered.

          "Right." Megumi said. 

          "This is the battleship Nadesico to Jovian forces. Please respond. We wish to work out a ceasefire," Yurika said. No response. "Repeat, this is the battleship Nadesico. We don't want to fight you. We just want to talk." The ship shuddered slightly from grasshopper missile barrages. "We have a prisoner here!" The attack stopped.

          "What do you mean by that?" someone from the Jovian battlegroup asked. 

          "Who am I speaking to?"

"This is Lieutenant Commander Tsukomo Shiratori. Who do you have prisoner? What have you done to him?" he demanded.

"Our crew has not inflicted any injuries on him. We rescued him from certain death at the hands of the UF. We also rescued him from his robot before it exploded. So I hope you take me seriously when I tell you we're not here to fight," Yurika explained. "We wish to return him to you in exchange for peace talks."

          "Who, exactly do you have?" Shiratori pressed.

          "He is Commander Sanoske Hashima." Yurika replied, displaying a picture of him.

          "Hashima?! Are you sure?"

          "That's who he claims to be. Lt. Saotome, is that correct?" Yurika asked.

          "Yep, that's him," Finn answered, his face appearing in a smaller window. 

          "If you'll excuse me, I have to give my superiors this information." Shiratori disappeared. A few tense minutes passed before I returned. "You have permission to launch one shuttle and one escort. You must bring Commander Hashima along with you and come unarmed."

          "Understood." Yurika closed the communication channel. "Prospector, Mr. Hori, Akito, and Lt. Saotome. I want you to come with me to meet with the Jovians."

          "Are you sure about this, Captain?" Finn asked as they were boarding the shuttle. "Me and her don't exactly get along too well." He eyed Sano, being led onto the shuttle. "Besides, this is probably a trap. How do you know we can trust this Shiratori guy?"

          "I am well aware of your concerns. But this is the best hope we have to talk about peace. Thanks to you, we have a bargaining chip," Yurika said. "Shouldn't you be in your uniform?"

          "Hey no way. I'm not taking any chances. You guys are free to get yourselves killed," He tapped his suit and quickly loaded a clip into his gun and slipped it into a small compartment on his left thigh while she wasn't looking. "Unarmed my skidplate," he said to himself, boarding the shuttle. Akito took the controls and detached the shuttle from the Nadesico's underside. Ryoko flew her aesti beside them. Izumi and Hikaru floated just in front of the Nadesico, ready to jump in if things got ugly. 

          They were guided by a grasshopper into a hangar bay. The walls of which were lined with dimojin and goliath units. They were instructed to land by a small group of people, which had gathered to welcome the unusual delegation. 

          "Welcome to the Thundercracker," Shiratori said. There were two men holding weapons, making them feel a little uneasy. "Oh, don't mind them," he said, following their gaze. "My commander ordered this, for our own protection. Please, come this way." His uniform was all white, which portions of gold trim. As they were escorted out of the hangar, they all noticed how different the interior of the ship looked in comparison to the Nadesico. It was furnished with what appeared to be wood floors and wall panels. It didn't seem at all like a battleship. 

They were led down a hallway and into what appeared to be a traditional Japanese tatami room. They all filed in and sat down. A small booklet was laid out before everyone. The Nadesico delegation sat side by side in a row. Across from them, the Jovian Admiral, Shiratori, and several other officers were seated. 

          "Greetings, Captain," an elderly man said. He was not dressed in the white uniform. His was a dark purple. "I am Admiral Sakata. Welcome to the Thundercracker."

          "Thank you. What are these?" Yurika asked, picking up the booklet sitting in front of her.

          "While you were en route I talked with my superiors at Central Command. We discussed what concessions would have to be made before we could accept a peace treaty," the Admiral answered. "Please, have a look." The Nadesico delegation began to read through the Jovian proposals. 

          "What is this?" Yurika asked.

          "Full disarmament of all Earth military functions? Removal of governments?" Akito asked.

          "This isn't a peace treaty," Finn said.

          "It's a form of surrender," Hori added. 

          "It is our proposal for a negotiated peace," The Admiral 'corrected'. 

          "But sir. This isn't what we discussed. You told me that…" Shiratori began, but was interrupted by the Admiral. 

          "You asked me to consider negotiations. These are what central command and I both see as reasonable proposals for ending the conflict," He said.

          "But sir. We have the opportunity to end the war right now. Isn't establishing peace our primary objective?" Shiratori protested. Soldiers entered the room through its sliding walls and aimed their machine guns at the Nadesico delegation. 

          "Our primary objective is to establish peace. And that peace will be established by our ways on our terms! I'm warning you now, Commander, to not question my orders any further." The Admiral got up and pointed in the direction of Yurika and the others. "You five will make excellent examples of the filth we are going to cleanse from the universe." 

          "But doesn't Gekigengar tells us that there is only one true righteous path? We have to…" Shiratori was interrupted again by the Admiral.

          "You are correct. There is only one true righteous path. And that is our path!" 

          "But sir!" Shiratori was shoved aside, and fell between Akito and Finn. Finn tapped the compartment and took hold of his own gun.

          "If you want to help these filthy earthlings, you can die along side them. As an example to all those who question our righteousness," the Admiral said. "Men. Commander Shiratori has proven to be a traitor and an Earth sympathizer. Your orders are to execute him immediately." A soldier aimed his gun at Shiratori and pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. But Shiratori did not fall from the bullet. 

          "Nu uh," Finn said, holding a closed fist over where the bullet would have hit Shiratori. He opened his palm, showing the bullet and flicked it back in the Admiral's face, then aimed his gun at him.

          "Tenkawa!" Hori shouted, kicking a gun out of a soldier's hands, which came sliding to a stop in front of Akito, who grabbed it. 

          "Open fire!" the Admiral ordered. 

          "Ooooh no you don't." Finn grabbed Sano sitting beside him. He quickly ripped her shirt over her head and threw it, along with her, into the cluster of soldiers. Knocking them down. "Move!" he shouted to Yurika. Hori grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the room. Finn grabbed Shiratori by the collar and dragged him out along with them. Akito led the way, while Finn brought up the rear. By now, the cluster of soldiers had managed to untangle themselves from each other and came after them. Finn shot the soldier in front in the shoulder. He fell to the floor, causing his fellow soldiers to trip over him. "Keep moving! Don't stop!"

          "I don't intend to!" Akito shouted back. They continued this way for a few more minutes until they reached the hangar.

          "Tenkawa. Take the rear," Finn said, firing a few shots in that direction as he shuffled to the front. "Stay here, I'm going out."

          "You're going to do what?!" Yurika demanded. Finn slid the door open and ducked in. The sound of gunfire followed.

          "What is he doing?!" Akito asked, firing down the hall at the latest group of soldiers, still stumbling over their own feet after them. Unlike Finn, he unconsciously shot to kill. The plan was to shoot the guy in front so everyone behind him would fall over him. All of a sudden, the door was flung open.

          "Let's go!" Finn said and began dragging them across the hangar. All around them there were soldiers, technicians, and pilots laying on the ground, holding a shoulder, leg, or other not-totally-vital area. 

          "What are you, Vash the stampede or something?" Akito remarked.

          "Aww, I hate it when people call me by my full name," Finn said as they finally got to the shuttle. Yurika got in first, followed by Hori and Prospector. Shiratori was shoved into the shuttle by Finn. "Come on Tenkawa," Finn said and he followed him up the ramp. When the shuttle doors closed, Akito took the controls and flew them out of there. Outside was a melee of grasshoppers and three aesties. 

          "What the hell did you guys do in there?!" Ryoko screamed at them, dodging a sea of missiles.

          "Just cover us on our way back!" Akito said. "Damn, they've got bugs everywhere." Finn sat down next to Shiratori.

          "Man, we trade one of you guys for another." He said.

          "You mean you left Sanoske back there?" Yurika asked.

          "He's the best pilot in the second fleet!" Shiratori exclaimed. "You'd have been better off to kill him than to exchange him for me."

          "You mean we'd have been better off to kill her," Finn corrected.

          "What do you mean?" Shiratori asked.

          "I'll tell you later," Finn laughed. The shuttle shuddered. "Tenkawa, what's going on out there?"

          "Don't look at me. There are missiles flying everywhere. We just took a hit on the starboard wing," Akito said.

          "I suppose it wouldn't help if I got out and pushed?" Finn retorted.

          "Break it up!" Yurika said. "Just concentrate on getting back to the Nadesico."

          "Ryoko, can't you guys cover us a little better than that?" Akito complained as the shuttle took another hit.

          "Don't even start with me, Tenkawa," Ryoko shot back, firing a missile barrage into the cloud of grasshoppers following them. "The Nadesico already has the gravity blast on continuous fire. And it's still not enough." Just then, a huge blast wave of graviton energy ripped through the centre of the grasshopper cloud. 

          "That the…?" They all asked in unison. But neither of them said any more. The distraction gave them enough time to return to the Nadesico, and the safety of its distortion field.

          "Well, we thought you could use some help," Akatsuki laughed on the other side of the vidwindow. 

          "What the hell are you doing here?" Finn demanded, ripping his helmet off as they returned to the bridge. 

          "Hey, we're all still on the same side, remember? It's in both our best interests to bail you out of this," Akatsuki said. "Besides, the Katkitsubata was only completed a few days ago. And we've been dying to try her out." Inez's face appeared on screen. 

          "Inez? What are you doing on the Katkitsublabla or whatever it's called?" Yurika asked.

          "No time to explain that. You have to act quickly before the grasshoppers regroup. Fire the PT cannon," she said.

          "The PT cannon?" Yurika asked.

          "That's correct. By using power from all four of the Nadesico's phase transition engines…" Inez began.

          "We get the idea," Finn said. 

          "Ruri, standby on the PT cannon. Fire at will," Yurika ordered.

          "And these are the guys you wanted to be friendly with," Finn muttered.

          "Roger that. Firing PT cannon." Ruri sent the command. A dark sphere formed at the front of the Nadesico where the PT cannon energy was growing. The sphere was fired into the heart of the grasshopper and Jovian ship cluster and exploded in a dark ball of energy. "All enemy units have been vaporized,"

          "Look at that," Minato said. 

          "The PT cannon appears to have so much energy concentrated within the blast that it destroys the very fabric of space," Inez explained from the Katkitsubata.

          "I am currently tracking three escape shuttles outside the PT cannon's blast." Ruri reported. "Should I send the order to pursue?"

          "No," Yurika answered. "There's no need. We've destroyed their attacking capabilities."

          ""Captain. May I suggest a temporary docking to conserve power on our way to Mars?" Akatsuki asked.

          "Permission granted," Yurika said. The Y unit expanded and the Katkitsubata slowly connected itself with the Nadesico.

          "So why'd you come bail us out?" Finn asked ask Akatsuki came down the ramp from the other ship. Anger was mixed with his confusion.

          "Like I said. We're all on the same side," Akatsuki replied with his usual grin. Finn began to walk away. "Hold it Saotome. That doesn't mean we're finished with you."

          "That's right." Inez said. "Please accompany Mr. Akatsuki and I to the observation deck. You two have to come as well," she said to Akito and Yurika.

          "What is this?" Finn asked, looking at all the equipment that had been moved onto the once peaceful observation deck.

          "A temporary measure, I assure you," Akatsuki said.

          "This is very important," Inez said seriously. "I need the three of you concentrate."

          "On what?" Finn asked.

          "Mars," she replied. "More specifically the Utopia Colony.

          "Why there?" Akito asked.

          "I've never even been to the Utopia Colony," Finn added. "I was out for a good chunk of that little shindig."

          "Do you remember what the colony looked like before we were attacked?" Inez asked.

          "Yeah, I guess so, but…"

          "Then that will suffice. Now, come here. It's a good thing you came dressed for the occasion." Inez led him to what looked like an IFS port. "Put your hands into the ports." Finn did as he was told. All the while keeping an eye on Akatsuki.

          "Now what?" he asked. 

          "Captain, Akito, you two need to be in direct physical contact with Lt. Saotome in order for this to be successful." Akito grab Finn's right arm and Yurika held onto his left.

          "Now what. Hey, what are you doing?" Finn asked. Inez took Akito and Yurika's free hands, thus making a kind of circle around Finn. 

          "Alright. You may launch the CCs now," Inez said to Akatsuki, who then nodded to a technician.

          "Just what are you trying to do here?" Finn asked suspiciously. 

          "We're going to boson jump," Inez said simply.

          "To the Utopia Colony on Mars," Akatsuki added. Finn ripped his hands out of the IFS ports.

          "Nu uh. No way am I helping you get there," he said.

          "Do I really have to force you? Besides, it's not like I could really do much with you around anyway." Akatsuki said. "And if you decide not to cooperate." He opened a vidwindow.

          "Let me go, damnit!" came the familiar voice of a certain green haired pilot. "Why am I always the hostage?"

          "Not again." Finn sweatdropped. "Can't you think of anything more original?"

          "Unlike the last time, you've got nowhere to run," Akatsuki grinned his evil little grin. 

          "Don't you have anything to say about this, Captain?" Finn asked. "I mean, he DID hold you and the Nadesico hostage two weeks ago. I don't know, there's something about being held at gunpoint that makes me distrust other people. Maybe it's just me," he said sarcastically. 

          "I am well aware of that." Yurika said. "But under the current circumstances, I don't see the harm in this."

          "You…wha…huh?!" Finn gaped.

          "Just do it already!" Ryoko told him. "The sooner they untie me the better. So do it!"

          "Fine, fine." Finn clicked his hands into the IFS ports again and the others formed their circle around him. 

          "CCs have been deployed," a technician said. 

          "Good. Doctor, you may begin," Akatsuki said. Finn mumbled something. 

          "You're going to have to forget about your grudge against him, Lieutenant," Inez said harshly. "Now concentrate. Think of the Utoptia colony. Close your eyes and picture it." They all closed their eyes.

          "What the hell?!" Finn saw sparkling lines resembling computer circuitry running up and down Inez, Akito, and Yurika's bodies. 

          "Don't break your concentration!" Inez said. "You have to concentrate. Any failure now and both the Nadesco, the Katkitsubata, and everyone on board could be destroyed. Finn closed his eyes and tried to picture what he remembered of the Utopia Colony. He remembered his battle in the ACF, and pulling Ryoko's damaged frame back to the Nadesico. The lines running up and down their bodies glowed with more intensity. "Now, picture in your minds yourselves there. Standing in the deserted streets. Notice the chulip. Pick a building and picture yourself there. There was a bright flash of light, then everything went black.

          "What the…? What happened?" Finn asked. But he heard his voice echo.

          "Concentrate," he heard someone whisper. "The Utopia Colony." Finn closed his eyes and concentrated. Then, everything went back to normal. Only the view out of the glass was different. 

          "Congratulations, Doctor. Your theories seem to have been proven correct," Akatsuki applauded. 

          "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me. I'll see you there," Inez glowed then blinked out of sight.

          " 'see you there'?" Finn asked. "That doesn't mean…"

          "Attention please," Ruri's voice sounded through the comlink. "I am detecting a chulip sized object approaching Mars at a distance of 1 258 000 kilometers. Coarse projections indicate it will land at the Martian South Pole."

          "Figures," Akatsuki said. "Well, Captain. We're going to have to make our way to intercept. Ruri, prepare to detach the ships. I'm heading back to the Katkitsubata." Akatsuki was soon aboard the other ship and on his way.

          "Set coarse for the pole," Yurika ordered coming back to the bridge.

          "Due to the atmosphere, we cannot operate the Nadesico's phase transition engines at full capacity," she explained. "However, with our nuclear engines on full, we should reach the pole a little while before the chulip lands there."

          "Doesn't it bother you just a little that we're doing exactly what that reptile Akatsuki wants us to do?" Finn asked.

          "I don't see much of an alternative. Do you have any better ideas?" Yurika asked. Finn shook his head, kicked a wall in frustration, and left.

…To be continued in act 5

                             **End of Act 4**


	5. Enter the Pilot: Act 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

                             **Act 5**

**Race to the Pole**

Ryoko had been released, but not before delivering three black eyes, a broken nose, and a few cracked ribs to her captors. She found Finn brooding in the cafeteria. "Those…idiots!" He pulled at his hair. "They just don't get it."

          "Get what? What's this all about?" Ryoko asked, taking a seat.

          "Huh?" Finn saw her and sat down opposite of her. 

          "What is this all about? I've been kept in the dark long enough," she said. Finn heaved a sigh.

          "I didn't want it to have to come to this," he said, staring at the table. "But that bastard Akatsuki found out some other way. Probably Inez. She can't keep a secret.

          "You're not answering my question." Ryoko crossed her arms.

          "Right. Ok, it's like this." Finn looked around, making sure no one else was in sight. Fortunately the cafeteria kitchen was closed and it was deserted. "You're probably not going to believe this. But thousands, maybe millions of years ago there was an ancient race of beings that lived on Mars. No one knows for certain what they were or what they were doing, but they invented the technology that we call boson jumping.  They invented the chulips, the grasshoppers, the spiders, and probably the basic framework for the dimojin and goliaths units. They also invented the phase transition engines, which is why any history on phase transition science is shady. Anyway, these aliens populated Mars and the moons of Jupiter. And they used the chulips as a form of instant transportation. However, for some reason these aliens vanished and left their technology behind. Thing is, it kept on working. What Akatsuki is after is the mega computer that controls all boson jumping." They sat in silence for a long time.

          "You expect me to believe that?" Ryoko asked in disbelief. "You're saying that aliens left this stuff for us to find? You're joking."

          "I wish." Finn said grimly. "I personally don't buy the whole alien thing, but so far it's the only explanation I've come across. And, if Akatsuki gets his hands on that computer, he'll be able to control all technology related to boson jumping and phase transitioning."

          "I don't see why that's really a bad thing. I mean, sure he's a snake and a lying son of a bitch, but he seems pretty harmless, Ryoko said.

          "Nu uh. He may seem harmless, but  you have to look at how his mind works," Finn explained. "People like him…they hunger for power. He'll dominate transportation. We're talking ships, goods, even information. He'll be able to send it anywhere instantly. And whoever controls transportation, unfortunately for us, pretty much controls the world. Businesses won't pay for regular shipping when they realize they can send something anywhere instantly. You think Nergal controls the world now. Just wait and see what they'd do with boson jumping. Not only that…" he trailed off.

          "What? What else is there?" Ryoko asked.

          "It's their fault," he said in a low voice. "It's the Akatsuki family's fault I'm like this." He showed the deformed IFS symbol that was displayed on the back of each of his hands. "They're monsters. They made me a weapon. From as far back as I can remember, they've been drilling it into my head to hurt, destroy, and kill. I can't sleep without nightmares. I can't do anything without there being some part of me that says 'look at you. You're nothing but a weapon.'" 

          "But you're not a heartless killer. You've proven that," Ryoko said simply.

          "That's only because I fight it. I've always fought it. They only kept me because I was the only one 'suitable' for their little experiments. I'm worse than a weapon. I'm a guinea pig. A fucking lab rat scurrying through my maze," he said. A sudden sting suddenly sprang across his face.

          "I can't believe you. You're saying you're out for revenge? I can't believe you'd let your life be consumed by something as useless as that," Ryoko said. "I'm with you on stopping him from getting that computer. But if you're saying everything you've done has been for revenge. Then goodbye." Ryoko got up and began walking away. "Come and see me when you've grown up." Finn continued to scowl, but his face softened when she turned the corner and disappeared from view. 

          "Awww crap," he said to himself, leaning back in his chair. "But still. One second she was sympathetic, the next it's like…I don't know." He sat that way for a long time, his head dangling over the back of the chair.

          "Excuse me, is anyone in here?" came a voice from the corridor.

          "Wha?" Finn lifted his head up. "Oh, it's you. Shiratori, right?"

          "That's right," he said, stepping into the room. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me back there."

          "No problem." Finn resumed his earlier position and stared at the cafeteria upside down.

          "Can I ask you a question?" Shiratori asked, taking a seat opposite of Finn.

          "You mean, 'can I ask you two questions?'" Finn replied.

          "Huh?'

          "Ask away."

          "Why did you help me out when the Admiral ordered me dead?"

          "Pretty simple. I don't like to see decent people get their heads blown off," Finn answered. "And you seemed like a decent guy."

          "So that would explain why you shot most of the soldiers on the ship in non-vital places," Shiratori concluded.

          "Bingo." Finn lifted his head up, allowing some blood circulation to his head. "So what do you think of the 'infidel dogs of the earth'?" 

          "It's certainly not what I expected. They always taught us that you people were savage animals."

          "And they told us that you were space aliens bent on conquering Earth," Finn said.

          "I guess no side is completely without fault."

          "Don't start getting depressed on us yet. We might need you," Finn said. "Besides, it's not like this is the first time this has happened. We're just poor guys who get to clean up the mess left behind by all our 'superiors'." They passed a few minutes in silence. Finn snickered.

          "What's so funny?" Shiratori asked.

          "That Sanoske guy. They're going to have a field day when they find out." Finn laughed.

          "I don't understand."

          "You see…Sanoske is…" 

          "Attention," Megumi's voice sounded over the comlink, interrupting Finn. "We are nearing the pole. All combat personnel to your stations. Pilots, report to the bridge for briefing."

          "And if anyone knows where Commander Shiratori is, tell him he has to come too," Yurika said in the background. Finn hauled himself out of his chair and grabbed Shiratori by the collar and dragged him to the bridge.

          "Someone loose a commanding enemy officer?" Finn said as he walked onto the bridge. 

          "Alright, Captain. Time for the Nadesico to do what she does best," Akatsuki said from the Nadesico's sister ship. 

          "I really don't like using a weapon like this on other people," Yurika said doubtfully. "Do we really have to use the PT cannon?"

          "Well, if you want to subject the lives of everyone on board both our ships to avoidable danger you can…" 

          "Alright! Have it your way." Yurika closed vidwindow. 

          "Enemy positions displayed onscreen," Ruri said, displaying a window. "Enemy forces are concentrated within 90% of the PT cannon's maximum range of fire." 

          "Fire," Ruri sent the command and the black sphere of the graviton energy began to build. Just as before, the sphere was fired into the heart of the Jovian armada and exploded, consuming all of the ships and turning them into molecular crumbs.

          "The Katkitsubata has taken position where the Jovian forces were. It appears to be holding position over a strong distortion field. They also appear to be launching aestivalis untis. A Jovian chulip has now entered Mars space. It will hit surface level in approximately ten minutes." Finn began to walk out of the room.

          "Where are you going?" Yurika demanded.

          "I've got a mission to complete," Finn said, stopping at the doors.

          "On whose orders?"

          "My own." He disappeared into the corridor.

          "Idiot." Ryoko said to herself. "Stupid idiot." 

          "So you're just going to abandon your ship, your comrades?" Yurika asked. Finn's footsteps could still be heard. "Your friends?" The footsteps stopped. "This 'mission' of yours wouldn't happen to involve a certain Nergal executive, would it?"

          "What if it does?" Finn asked, returning to the entrance. 

          "Than I would have to ask that you refrain from doing anything rash."

          "This doesn't involve you, Captain. You don't know what Akatsuki has planned," Finn said. He then took a look in Ryoko's direction. She looked at him as if to say 'go ahead. I dare you.' "Besides, what else do you have in mind?" 

          "If I may interrupt the adult conversation, the chulip will land…" Ruri stopped and waited while the monitor showed the chulip slamming into the ground. "now." 

          "Well?" Yurika asked. Finn remained silent.

          "Numerous enemy ships are emerging from the chulip." Ruri informed them. The Nadesico shook slightly from the shock of an early barrage from the Jovian forces. 

          "Are you with us? Or are you just selfish enough to let us handle this ourselves," Ryoko asked. Finn didn't reply. "Let's go team." Ryoko said to the others. "Looks like we're on our own." They filed passed Finn and began walking down the hall. 

          "Wait." Finn said. "You'll need help."

          "Well then, what are you waiting for? Move!" Ryoko commanded.

**The Second Battle of Mars**

          "Saotome, you're seek and destroy," Ryoko ordered, climbing into her aesti. 

          "What about the rest of us?" Hikaru asked. 

          "Same thing." 

          "You mean no strategy?" Hikaru asked. "No plan?"

          "Who's had time to think of a plan?" Ryoko shot back. Akito was the first to take off. Finn stood in line, waiting to board the catapult that would shoot him out once again into combat. Ryoko, in her aesti, was in front of him. Just before she was about to leave, she turned around and gave him a hard whack on the head.

          "That's for being such a smartass," Ryoko said sternly. She tried to sound tough and indifferent, but a small smile broke through. "Good to have you back, Finn. But don't think I'm not still pissed off at you," she said and was launched out. 

"Yes ma'am," he said dully, taking his place on the catapult and was thrown out into the battlefield. 

"We've identified the source of the unknown distortion field. It appears to be some form of ruin," Ruri reported.

"About time you figured it out," Finn said. "That's what Akatsuki's after. If you destroy that, this will all be over!"

"Ruri, configure PT cannon for close range firing. Target those ruins. Why didn't you tell us this before, Lt. Saotome?" Yurika demanded. 

"Would you have believed me if I had told you?" Finn retorted. 

"Wait a second! Wait a second! What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" Akatsuki shouted.

"If what Lt. Saotome says is true. Then this whole war will be over," Yurika said. She hit a control on her console and Finn's voice became audible. 

"Thousands, maybe millions of years ago there was an ancient race of beings that lived on Mars. No one knows for certain what they were or what they were," the recording played.

"I'm sorry it had to come down to that, Finn. But I had to be sure just what we were fighting for," Yurika said.

"Gah, who cares about that now?!" Finn said, slicing through a goliath's distortion field.

"The Katkitsubata has launched aestivalis units, Captain," Ruri said. Akatsuki's aesti joined the battle, making a beeline for Finn.

"I've had enough of you and that nuclear scrapheap," Akatsuki said, firing a missile barrage at Finn, who used the goliath he was facing as a human shield. The missiles ripped the Jovian unit apart. He drew one of his sabres. "I've ordered my wingmen not to interfere. I'm going to shut you up, permanently. You're even more annoying than that anime fanboy!"

"Wow, what's the matter? Little rich kid not getting his way? Throwing a temper tantrum?" Finn said, countering Akatsuki's blows with his sabre.

"Shut up!" Akatsuki took another slash, but Finn dodged out of the way.

          "Struck a nerve eh?" Finn said. Akatsuki threw a flash bomb between them. It exploded in a brilliant flash of light. He then grabbed Finn by the arms and hurled him down towards the ruins.

          "Ryoko! Bail him out!" Yurika ordered, seeing Finn falling. 

          "We're a little busy, Captain!" She yelled back, locked hand to hand with one of the Katkitsubata's aestis. Hikaru, Izumi, and Akito were busy fighting off the mix of Jovians and enemy aestis.

          "I'm fine," Finn shot back up and landed a punch into Akatsuki's frame, tearing a huge hole in its chest. Akatsuki grabbed onto Finn and fired missiles at point blank. "What are you doing?" Finn's monitors shook and fizzled. 

          "Your whole justice and honour crap. It's all shit," Akatsuki said, trying to land a kick in Finn's chest. 

          "I think you're getting confused here," Finn said, catching the flying leg and using it to hurl Akatsuki high into the air. "I'm not doing this for justice, or honour!"

          "Then what are you fighting for?" Akatsuki recovered from being thrown and flew straight at Finn, wielding his distortion blade as a spear.

          "I fight because it's the only thing I know how!" Finn cranked up his thrusters and flew head on into his opponent, knocking the blade out of his hands and severing his left arm. "It's all your fault!" He grabbed Akatsuki by the throat with one hand and held his sabre to his chest with the other. 

          "What do you mean it's my fault?" Akatsuki asked, struggling to get out of Finn's grip.

          "You. You are Nergal. And it's your fault I am what I am!" He slammed his knee into Akatsuki's chest. Ryoko, having heard all that had been said between Finn and Akatsuki, looked in their direction. 

          "So is that why you're doing this? For revenge?" Akatsuki asked. 

          "No. Not for revenge. Not anymore." He severed Akatsuki's other aestivalis arm. "Go back to the hole you crawled out of and stay there!" He threw him into the Katkitsubata, through its distortion field, and into the ship. "I'm doing this so that people don't have to put up with whiney, selfish brats like you!" 

          "What are you doing?" Erina demanded. "We're all supposed to be on the same side. So how about a little cover fire here!" The Katkitsubata wasn't faring too well. The ship was weakening under the onslaught of Akatsuki managed to pull himself out of the ship's hull. And floated over to the Nadesico, where he landed, and most of his frame fell to pieces. "Are you just going to ignore us?!" Erina shrieked. 

          "Ruri, how much longer before the Nadesico can fire the PT cannon?" Yurika asked, ignoring Erina. A part of the Katkitsubata blew to pieces.   

          "Twenty seconds," Ruri said. The Katkitsubata erupted in a brilliant ball of fire. "90% of the Katkitsubata's superstructure has been destroyed."

          "Alas, poor Erina Wan. Blown to bits along with her ambitions," Izumi wept.

          "I am not dead!" Erina screamed from the bridge of the Katkitsubata, which doubled as an escape shuttle and was currently en route to dock with the Nadesico.

          "All pilots, return to the Nadesico!" Yurika ordered.

          "Roger that, Captain," Finn said, and flew straight into the hangar. He saw Akatsuki crawl out of his crippled air combat frame and make his way towards the bridge. Erina and the surviving crew of the Katkitsubata landed at the time and began to unload personnel.

          "Prepare to fire PT cannon. Target those ruins!" Yurika ordered as Finn came onto the bridge. 

          "Hold it right there," Akatsuki said, limping onto the bridge. "I'm taking command of this ship."

          "You and what army?" Finn asked. The doors opened and security officers who had escaped from the Katkitsubata flooded onto the bridge. "Oh come on! Again?!"

          "My philosophy is to go with what works," Akatsuki laughed. "And here I thought I wouldn't live long enough to see that look on your face again. Ruri, change of plans. Target the chulip and the Jovian forces."

          "Captain?" Ruri asked.

          "I'd advise you to cooperate, Captain," Akatsuki grinned. "We wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to any of your crew members." There was the sound of a gun being drawn, followed by the arming of a lot of machine guns, all of them aimed at Finn. "Are you sure?"

          "Do as he says, Ruri." Yurika said.

          "Captain!" Finn shoved his way to the up to the command deck of the bridge. You can't just cave in. Why are you just going along with whatever he says?" The Nadesico shook violently from a gravity blast.

          "Because if it means that my crew will be safe, then I have to. I have to do what's best for the crew," Yurika said.

          "Where'd you guys go!" A vidwindow popped up, showing Ryoko, struggling against enemy forces, apparently still outside the ship.

          "Pilot Subaru's aestivalis' escape route back to the Nadesico has been cut off. She is surrounded and her distortion field is unstable. At this rate it will collapse in fifteen seconds," Ruri said, displaying Ryoko's location on the main screen.

          "Fire the PT cannon," Akatsuki ordered.

          "But she's in the blast zone. She wouldn't make it!" Yurika said.

          "Why should I care? If anything it will give me great pleasure destroying the object of nuclear boy Saotome's twisted affection. Ruri, I'm ordering you to fire."

          "You son of a…" Finn walked up to Akatsuki and delivered a quick, but hard, blow to his face. He then took off, pushing and shoving people out of his way, back to the hangar. "I'd kill you without hesitation if I were anyone else," he called back.

          "You'll only get caught in the blast with her, you know." A vidwindow followed Finn down the corridors. "Ruri, fire the PT cannon."

          "Negative," Ruri said.

          "You're disobeying me?" Akatsuki said, furious.

          "That is exactly correct. I have come to view every crewmember on the Nadesico as a family member. Pilot Subaru means a great deal to everyone on this ship, and her death would cause us all a great deal of personal anguish," Ruri said.

          "Iwata." Akatsuki said to one of the men. "Fire the PT cannon manually." The man known as Iwata lifted Ruri out of her seat and tossed her into the corner as though she were a mere doll. Yurika hurried over to her.

"It's been delayed, sir. She's locked the cannon. It won't fire," Iwata said.

"Then override it. The pass code is 'endgame'," Akatsuki ordered.

"Are you alright, Ruri?" Yurika asked, helping her up.

"Yes ma'am." Ruri replied. "But we're in trouble. I told Omoikane to ignore any commands to fire the PT cannon. But that override passcode supersedes everything I've ever taught it. Omoikane will fire if that code is entered."

"Passcode accepted, sir. Firing in two minutes." There was a loud bang, as though someone had fired a cannon on the bridge. Akatsuki fell over clutching his chest. "Who the…?" Standing by the bridge door was Shiratori, holding the smoking gun. Erina ran to him, but he stared blankly back at her with dead eyes. Hori took the opportunity to elbow his nearest captor in the stomach, winding him. He grabbed the gun from his hands and landed a blow to the head on another. 

          "You're commander has been killed," Shiratori said. "You have no further reason to threaten the Nadesico or her crew."

          "We're holding all the cards here," Iwata said. "I'm assuming command."

          "Anyone who follows this man's advice." Shiratori stopped and shot him dead, right there in front of everyone. "Is quite willing to join him." Hori went around and collected the weapons at gunpoint. 

          "Ruri…" Yurika began.

          "I'm on it," Ruri said, jumping back into her seat and pressing her hands against her IFS interface. "Please Omoikane. Please stop." A window appeared on the main screen. It read 'Negative. Passcode override accepted. PT cannon will fire 1:26.'

          Meanwhile Finn was not having much luck getting close to Ryoko, who was managing to evade her attackers, but she couldn't fight back. 'There's no way she can keep that pace up for long,' he thought. 

          "Saotome." Ruri's face popped up. "You have one minute until the PT cannon fires. I can't override it. You have to get yourself and Pilot Subaru out of there now. 

          "Great. Just what I needed to hear," He quickly entered commands into Skywarp's computer. A small glass box appeared out of the control panel with a button inside it. "Here goes." He smashed through the glass.

          "Maximum power output initiated," his computer told him. "Reactor running at 100% capacity. Melt down immanent."

          "Shut up!" Finn powered his distortion field to full and dove into the swarm of grass hoppers, dimojins, and goliath's attacking the Nadesico. Jumping from jimojin to goliath, slashing anyone who stood in his way to pieces, he channelled as much power into his sabre as it would hold, and cut through all of his enemies like a hot knife through butter. He flew straight through a Jovian cruiser and finally spotted Ryoko. Cranking his engines to full and unleashed an onslaught of plasma bolts from his shoulder cannons, clearing a path for them.

          "About time you got here!" Ryoko said, her distortion field shattered around here. Finn didn't answer. Every fibre of his body concentrated on controlling the massive surge of energy flowing through it. "My field's gone. I can't take another hit." 

          "Open your cockpit." Finn managed to say. "Do it!" Ryoko quickly entered the commands and the emergency hatch blew off. Finn reached inside and pulled her out. He then quickly opened his own cockpit and placed/threw her inside. 

          "PT cannon will fire in 7 second,." Ruri said. 

          "Hold on," Finn said, and burst straight up. Ryoko felt herself being pushed into Finn's body from the force of the acceleration.

          "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, PT cannon firing." The massive surge of energy flooded beneath them, vaporizing all of the attacking Jovian units. However, two more chulips fell from the sky not far from the first. Finn landed on the Nadesico's outer landing bay and dropped Ryoko off. 

          "Where are you going?!" she asked when he took off again.

          "I'm going to end this war once and for all!" Finn shouted back and flew high above them. A vidwindow from Ruri appeared in front of Ryoko.

          "I am detecting a massive power buildup from Lt. Saotome's frame," she said. "At this rate, his reactor will melt down in forty-two seconds."

          "Computer," Finn said. "Divert all available power to primary weapon." Finn aimed his arm and shoulder mounted cannons at the ruins. 

          "Warning. 100% is not advisable…"

          "I know!" Finn shouted at the computer. He channelled all power his reactor could muster into his cannons. "Wait for it…" He watched the capacity indicator on his screen climb. 75% "Wait for it…" 80% 

          "Warning. Core temperature critical," his computer beeped.

          "A little more…" Finn grit his teeth. The energy surging through his body made him unaware of the pain he would have otherwise have been suffering. The gage read 95% "Just a bit further. Come on." 98% Finally the gage started blinking red as it hit 100% capacity. Finn's body sparked and tiny jolts of electricity jumped from the monitors. "Now!"

          From Ryoko's spot on the outside landing deck, she saw a massive blast of yellow light erupt from Skywarp's cannons. The wave was shaped like a cone. It was small at the tip but grew exponentially the further back you looked. It travelled at amazing speed. Although to Ryoko, everything happened in slow motion. The energy surged out of the cannons, finally colliding with the ruins' first layer of distortion fields. It detonated in a brilliant flash of light. The shockwave from the blast blew Ryoko against the hull and caused the ship to shudder violently, but she held on and kept watching. All she could see was the bright glow of the blast sinking into the ground. It vaporized the very rock and ice foundation surrounding the ruins and erupted in a brilliant flash of light. When the energy finally stopped surging out of the cannons, it was the dust's turn to block her view. It grew thick Ryoko, and forced her to seek shelter inside. The blast had also created a vacuum within its blast range, and fresh air surged into the area.

          "Ruri!" she shouted. "Ruri! What happened?" A satellite image was projected in front of her. It looked as though someone had taken a giant hand and gouged a hole out of the surface of the planet. Above it all floated Finn. His frame sparked and pieces blew off, and he began to fall. His engines at the rear of the frame blew off, sending the front of the frame, along with the cockpit, hurtling down into the dust. There was a bright flash of light a few seconds later. "Ruri? What happened to him? Ruri?!" 

          "Lt. Saotome's id beacon has ceased transmitting. I am no longer detecting his reactor signal," Ruri said.

          "What does that mean?" Ryoko asked, as though what Ruri just said might mean there was a chance Finn was still alive.

          "I'm sorry, Ryoko," Yurika said. Ryoko stared at the window. They all waited and watched as the dust storm continued to rage. When it finally settled, they all stood shocked. The ruins were unharmed.

          "I'm sorry I'm late." Inez's face appeared on the main screen. "But interference from before prevented me from contacting you earlier."

          "Just where are you?" Yurika asked.

          "Inside the ruins. I've been trying to tell you to not attempt to destroy them. There are distortion fields in place every 800 meters. Even the PT cannon on continuous fire won't be able to be break through," she explained. "What was that shockwave just now? I saw a bright flash when something hit the fields. What was it?"

          "That was Lt…Saotome…" Yurika trailed off.

          "It ripped through the first layers of the distortion field surrounding us," Inez said.

          " 'us'?" Yurika asked.

          "Where's Mr. Akito?" an offscreen voice asked.

          "Ai?!" Akito stared at the screen. Inez turned off her communicator again. "Yurika, I'm going down there." He took off in the direction of the hangar.

          "Tenkawa!" a voice screamed at him, making him stop in his tracks. It was Ryoko. "I'm going too," she said, tearing herself away from the window. Akito nodded and continued towards his frame. "Hikaru. I'm borrowing your aesti," she said, climbing into the orange cockpit. They left the Nadesico and began to fly towards the still functional layers of the distortion field surrounding the ruins. The dust was still thick, making it difficult to see. But they managed. Bits and pieces of Skywarp rained down on them and bounced off the distortion field.

          "His reactor is still intact," Ruri said, performing a radiation scan. "His power converters overloaded, causing a massive backflash of energy. That was what destroyed the frame."

          "Look at this," Akito said. "It vaporized the rock around this place. It's all exposed." Then they made contact with the distortion fields and took out their blades began to hack their way through them.

          "How deep is this hole anyway?" Ryoko asked.

          "Approximately 14 kilometers," Ruri answered. "With distortion fields placed every 100 metres."

**Fortress Magnum**

          "Inez, where's Ai?!" Akito said, jumping down from his aesti.

          "You just missed her. I was trying to tell you to hurry," Inez replied.

          "You mean…she's gone?"

          "She just boson jumped."

          "But I don't understand. Where did she jump to?" 

          "Akito." Inez said with tears brimming in her eyes. "The first word in Inez is I (Ai)."

          "You mean…you're…" 

          "It's wonderful to see you again, Mr. Akito," Inez said, holding onto Akito."

          "It seems so obvious," Akito said. "It was all there in front of me but I never put all the pieces together. I'm sorry Ai."

          "Thank you. Mr. Akito," Inez said, drifting off into a kind of sleep.

          "Ryoko," Akito said, taking Inez off her feet and into his arms. "I'm taking her back up. Wait a sec. What the heck is this?" Akito picked up a small plate off the floor.

          "I'm going to look around for a bit," Ryoko said, her frame taking giant steps through the ruined city. Akito carried Inez up into his aesti and headed back to the Nadesico. From what Ryoko could tell, most of the city still lay buried. Only the tops of buildings appeared out of the ground, with the mega computer sitting on a central pillar. She looked up out of the giant crater and up into the sky. Finn's blast had vaporized all the sediment surrounding the ruins, but had only broken the first few layers of the distortion field. Now that those fields had been neutralized, the ruins lay fully exposed. She looked around for any sign that Finn might have somehow survived. However, even with Finn's luck the chances of him having found a way out of it were slim. She found scattered pieces of Skywarp everywhere, most of which were of the most basic of parts, a bolt here or a strip of wiring there. Very view pieces had survived intact.

          "So it was all in vain," Ryoko said to herself, picking up a piece of scrap.

          "Ryoko," Megumi called. "Please return to the Nadesico. The Captain wants to take this opportunity to destroy the computer."

          "Right." She took one last look around and then took off back to the Nadesico, unknowingly carrying the scrap in her hand. 

          "Ruri," Yurika said once Ryoko had returned. "Prepare to fire PT cannon."

          "So you're assuming that by destroying the thing that both sides want, they'll have no reason to fight anymore?" Jun asked.

          "That's right," Yurika replied. "Ruri, fire PT cannon."

          "Roger, Captain," Ruri replied, and the Nadesico, again, charged up the energy required to fire. "Captain, this will drain what little is left in the PT engines. If the Nadesico were to remain exposed to an atmosphere, it would take several days to recharge enough to fire again."

          "Just fire, Ruri. Just fire," Yurika ordered. The black sphere of energy began to grow at the front of the ship.

          "3 seconds to firing," Ruri said. "2…1, firing PT Cannon." A priority vidwindow appeared onscreen. "The ruins are projecting another barrier. Source is from inside the ruins themselves." The PT cannon fired, but was absorbed by the invisible barrier.

          "What the?" Yurika said. "Ruri, what happened?"

          "Collecting data," Ruri said. "Data gathering complete. It would appear that as a final line of defence, the ruins have a self contained PT engine, or engines, with in them. These engines are projecting a field twice as strong as the external fields were." 

          "But I don't understand," Akito said, scratching his head. "How could that thing survive a full PT blast?" It was Seiya's turn to explain now.

          "I've been going over the data Inez gathered while she was inside the ruins," he said, holding her palm pad. "And it looks to me as if the ruins are protected for a reason. I'm not exactly sure, I mean, this is pretty complex stuff, but I think that if we were to destroy the jump computer then all boson jumping that ever took place in the past, present, and future would all be voided."

          "So what does that mean?" Jun asked. "We should keep trying?"

          "No." Ruri said, vidwindows popping up all around her bearing that word. "To void all boson jumping that ever took place would mean to totally erase history and rewrite it. As a result I would lose the one thing that is the most precious to me, and that is, the time I have spent on the Nadesico."

          "Ruri?" Yurika asked.

          "Think about it. None of us would know each other. And for all we know this war could still have existed, only for different reasons and means. However, we are so close to being able to conclude the war. Why would you willingly start it all over again?" Ruri pleaded. "Please, Captain."

          "Is there anyway we can transport the ruins to a safe location?" Yurika asked. "If we're going to protect those ruins, we need to get them out of the hands of both sides.

          "We could try towing it up into the Nadesico?" Jun suggested. "We have a winch strong enough to lift that thing."

"Good idea. Ryoko, Izumi. Go down there and secure the cables." Yurika ordered. For the second time that day, Ryoko flew down into the ruins. In her aesti's hand she carried a thick cable attached to the Nadesico. 

"It's all hooked up, Captain," she called when they were finished.

          "Ruri, begin retrieval of the jump computer unit," Yurika ordered. She began to bring the winch online. However, as she did, the ground beneath them began to shake. "Ruri! What's going on?" Yurika said, holding onto the console.

          "Seismic activity is coming from the ground under the ruins, Captain." 

          "Is this area volcanically active?" Yurika asked.

          "No ma'am. The cause of the disturbance appears to be emitting from the ruins themselves," Ruri replied. 

          "Ryoko! Izumi! Get out of there, fast!" Yurika ordered. Ryoko and Izumi returned to the Nadesico as the walls of the crater collapsed into a huge storm of dust. Something began to rise from the storm of dust. "What the hell?" Yurika asked herself. They all stood gaping at what was happening below them. All of a sudden, the dust storm engulfed the Nadesico, blocking out all the monitors. "Minato, take us up and out of the storm." The Nadesico headed skyward, but couldn't seem to escape the dust. "Keep going up." 

          "But if we keep going, we'll be in space," Minato said.

          "Just do it!" Yurika ordered. A few minutes later the Nadesico floated high above the scene blow. The dust storm was visible, even from space. They sat there for quite some until,

          "The dust storm has begun to settle." Ruri said. "Visual imaging now possible. However, due to the thickness of sediment in the atmosphere, I cannot display very accurately what is going on." She displayed a vidwindow that, at first glance, looked like the computer, just raised higher above the ground. Then, it began to sink into the dust and was followed by a brilliant flash of green light. 

          "Oh my gosh…" Yurika stood there staring at what lay before them "It's a city." The dust settled, and they could clearly see what the ruins had turned into. It was a fortress, with a main tower as big as a skyscraper, with two smaller towers on either side. There was a large section that the towers rested on. Out of which a massive double-barrelled cannon could be seen. It looked as though someone had built a city on top of a giant space barge. 

          "Whatever that thing is," Akito said. "It's big." 

          The city was slowly rising off the ground, a massive distortion field covering the length of its hull. 

          "Captain, I am receiving a faint recognition signal," Ruri said. "Signature matches Lt. Saotome."

          "Where is he?" Ryoko demanded from her aesti.

          "I am currently unable pinpoint the signal's exact position." 

          "Best estimate," Yurika ordered. "Ruri?"

          "This isn't making any sense," Ruri said. "Are you sure, Omoikane?" An 'YES!' window appeared onscreen. "Captain, Omoikane says that the signal is coming from…inside the city."

          "You're kidding," Yurika said. 

          "No ma'am."

          "Try to make contact with him. Maybe he's still alive," Yurika ordered. There came a coughing sound from the bridge. 

          "I knew it," someone said, sounding as though they were choking on their own words. "I knew that bastard had nine lives," Akatsuki said, coughing blood onto the cold metal floor.

          "Someone take him to sickbay," Yurika ordered off handedly.

          "After all he's done?" Ryoko said angrily. "Let me die. Put him out of our misery."

          "We could still use him. Besides, all his troops have abandoned him. He's harmless," Yurika said as two men rolled Akatsuki's body, which was saturated with blood, onto a stretcher and carried him out.

          "He's not human," Akatsuki said on his way out. "He can't be."

          "Ruri, can you tell if he's still alive down there?" Yurika asked.

          "No ma'am. His communicator must have sustained damage and the vital signs monitor must be offline."

          "Megumi, try and see if you can get through to him."

          "Roger." Megumi did her routine. "I'm not getting any response, Captain. Is it possible he's just being an ass again?"

          "Well, if you want to put it technically…"

          "No!" Ryoko said definitely. "He wouldn't pull that stunt now." 

          They stood around, watching the dust continue to settle. All of a sudden, three more chulips slammed into the ground not far from the city and began to deploy units.

          "I am detecting activity from the city." Ruri said as the city began to change shape. The two smaller towards fell parallel with the ground and extended out with two more massive double cannons appearing from the skyward sections of the towers. 

          "What the…? Jun asked, but was cut off when the two newly revealed cannons fired a round each. Each shot hit a chulip. However, it seemed to do more than just vaporize them. It was as though the blast was so intense that it destroyed the very fabric that held the space around them together. 

          "It would appear," Inez's face appeared onscreen. "That the megacomputer that we identified as the one that controls and regulates all boson jumping in the universe is actually an extension of a much larger super structure, with it being the core processing unit."

          "Very interesting, Inez, but what if that thing starts attacking us?" Yurika asked.

          "I wouldn't worry about that, Captain," she said and closed the window.

          "The Jovian forces are attacking the city." Ruri said. 'Wow, I'm getting a lot of screen time here,' she thought. 

          "Minato, bring the Nadesico down," Yurika ordered.

          "Say what?" was the response she got from most of the crew.

          "Do you know how much a ship like this costs?" Prospector said, his calculator on the verge of exploding.

          "I don't think that city is any real threat to us as long as we prove our presence to be friendly," Yurika said. As they got closer, Ryoko, Izumi, and Akito all launched and engaged the Jovians. The city seemed to tolerate their presence and did not perceive them to be hostile.

          "The Jovian forces seem to be withdrawing," Ruri reported a few minutes later. The city, along with the three aestis, had destroyed three out of the five chulips and had nearly eradicated all the Jovian forces. 

          "Any word from inside that thing?" Yurika asked.

          "No ma'am," Ruri replied. "But our aestivalis units appear to be able to move through the city's distortion field. It is as though they are operating on the same frequency."

          "Move the Nadesico closer to the city, Minato," Yurika ordered. "It sees us as friendly." The Nadesico crawled forward a few hundred meters closer. A Nadesico sized hatch opened along the base of the still erect tower. 

          "Landing lights have been deployed," Ruri informed them.

          "Captain?" Minato asked, unsure if she should accept this invitation.

          "Take us in," Yurika said. The Nadesico slowly entered the opening. Inside it was lit up as anyone would expect a standard spaceport to be. However, it was strangely quiet. Ryoko and the other pilots could hear a kind of humming noise along with a steady beat every few seconds, like a massive heart pounding.

          "What's going on?" Akito asked as he set his aesti down. As he did, the opening closed and became a transparent green colour.

          "The city is emitting high concentration of bose particles," Ruri said.

          "It's trying to jump?" Yurika asked as they vanished from the Martian surface. They rematerialized somewhere in space. "Where are we, Ruri?"

          "Calculating position," Ruri said. "Location confirmed. We are currently approximately halfway between the Mars and the Earth."

          "What are we doing out here?" Megumi asked.

          "I don't know. But I think they have something to do with it," Jun said, pointing to the main monitor, which showed the UF fleet not far from the city. 

          "What's going on?" Yurika asked.

          "I am detecting high energy concentrations from the front of the city, ma'am," Ruri said. 

          "What's it doing?" Yurika asked. Her question was answered with a massive surge, a hundred times more powerful than any PT cannon blast, erupted from between the horizontal towers. The whole city, with the Nadesico inside, shook. "What happened out here?!" Yurika aksed, holding onto her consol.

          "100% of UF forces have been destroyed," Ruri reported.

          "Whats all that?" Ryoko asked, walking onto the bridge. "What the?" She looked at the sparking section of space that had once contained the UF fleet.

          "High bose particles detected," Ruri said, and the city once again vanished.

           "Where are we now?" Yurika asked when they rematerialized. This time it a small planet lay before them, surrounded by chulips.

          "It can't be…he couldn't have…" Ryoko said, staring at the chulips.

          "Calculating position," Ruri said.

          "Captain, we're on Jovian space. That's one of Jupiter's moons," Ryoko said.

          "That is correct. We are currently situated in front of the moon Europa," Ruri said. "I am reading another highly concentrated surge in energy." And like it did with the UF fleet, the wave erupted from the mouth of the towers. However, it did not strike the small moon, nor the chulips surrounding it." 

          "It missed?" Yurika asked. The ship shook slightly as a shockwave ripped along the city.

          "No ma'am. The blast detonated in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. It apparently struck some kind of sub orbital station," Ruri said.

          "That would be the artefact," Shiratori said. "We found it when our ancestors fled to Jupiter."

          "But what was it an artefact of?" asked Jun.

          "Phase transition power cores," Shiratori replied. "And a factory for leap gates, or what you call chulips."

          "I am detecting large numbers of grasshopper robots and dimojin fighters outside the city's distortion field," Ruri said. From the view the Nadesico had, looking through the clear green field that kept them inside the city. "There appears to be some structural reconfiguration." The Nadesico shook as the city began to change shape. The ends of the horizontal towers flipped back, forming a kind of foot. The centre tower split in two and attached itself to the sides of its structure. The ramps at the opposite end of the towers rotated so they where parallel to the legs. A massive section of the front blew off and transformed. It rearranged itself into a kind of head, and situated itself on top of the city, which had now turned and stood up in front of the moon. 

          The Jovians stood agape at what they saw before them. The floating city transformed before their eyes into a massive robotic being. Cannons were mounted on the legs, wrists, and forarms. With who massive gun barrels at mounted on what they guessed to be the stomach. For a few moments it just floated there, as though it were waiting for something. However, it broke its motionless trance and reached forward with a massive hand and crushed a group of open chulips. It threw the broken bits off into space and tore a shopping mall sized hole in the moon, ripping the command centre clean off its icy foundation and crushed it in its fist. 

          "What is this?" Yurika asked. With each movement made by the metal titan caused the Nadesico to shift and move, rattling the insides of the ship. 

          "The beginning of the end," Ryoko said to herself, watching the destruction outside. The city grabbed a giant space station out of its orbit with the moon and crushed it between its two hands and tossed it onto the moon's surface. It then began to back up and deployed all cannons. The two on its legs, the four on its arms, and the two in the middle, all eight of them came to life. First they fired a sheet of projectiles, clearing the space around it of any Jovian insects. When they stopped, the humming noise inside the ship became steadily louder. The city shook slightly. 

          "Ruri!" Yurika yelled, barely managing to keep herself upright. 

          "I am detecting another build up of energy. But it is different than the one before. It is focused narrowly within a highly concentrated blaze zone," Ruri said. 

          "Just what does that mean?" 

          "It's going to fire," Ryoko replied and grabbed the railing that ran along the side of the bridge walls. Light from the cannons charging up poured in through the glass of the Nadesico's bridge. The humming became a buzz, and the buzz became a rumbling. Then everything went quiet. 

          "Is it over?" Megumi asked, opening one eye. The Nadesico shook violently as a bright flash of light erupted from outside. From their seat inside the city, they could see eight massive beams of light being channelled into one massive wave of destruction. Everything seemed to happen slowly. They watched as the crushed station dissolved and the remnants of the chulips vanish. However, it did not stop there. It swept forward slowly, obliterating everything in its path. It collided with the moon kept going. They saw the moon erupt in a cloud of steam before it vanished from sight and existence. The vibrations died down and returned to a light hum. The crew of the Nadesico stared at what lay before them, or rather, what didn't lay before them. The chulips, the station, the moon, they were all gone. As though they had been swept away and out of the universe. They watched silently as they slowly passed high above Jupiter's sky. Then, before any of them could say a word, it all vanished. Ruri was the first one to break the silence.

          "The Nadesico has returned to Mars surface, Captain," she said. However, she did not receive a reply. "Captain?"

          "What…what just happened here?" Yurika asked herself.

          "Snap out of it, Captain?" Ryoko slapped her across the face. "Standing there staring into space won't give you any answers. I'm going outside." She left them all and made her way to the hangar where she, for the second time that day, took Hikaru's aestivalis.

          "I'm going too," Akito said and ran off after her. A few minutes later they walked down the catapult out of the hangar. "This place is huge!" he said when they manoeuvred their aestis out into the massive hangar that the Nadesico was sitting in. 

          "Yeah," Ryoko said, walking around.

          "So what exactly are we looking for?" Akito asked, pressing his hands against the screen that kept them trapped inside, but to no avail.

          "I'm not sure," Ryoko replied, walking her aesti along the adjacent wall. "A way out, I guess." There was a massive line that ran vertical from the floor to the ceiling. She pressed her hand against it and the two panels split apart and slid open. "Hey, Tenkawa. I found something. It looks like a hallway or something." The opened corridor was dark. They turned on their searchlights. "Hmm." Ryoko hesitated a few seconds before proceeding. The door slid shut behind them. They rushed back, hoping it would open for them, but it remained shut.

          "Oooh crap," Akito said. "Megumi, can you hear me?" he asked into his comlink. "The signal's not going through."

          "We could always blast through. I've got a few missiles left. But…" she trailed off.

          "What?" Akito pressed.

          "I was just thinking. If this thing wanted to attack us, it would have already done it by now," she replied. "But I don't want to risk pissing it off." She added, remembering the small collection of atoms that remained of the UF fleet. "No choice but to look around, I guess. If worse comes to worse we can always blast our way out. Come on, this way." She took a few steps forward. She felt as though she were some small insect scurrying around. The passage way was as wide as it was tall. Just then, there came a horrible sound of twisting metal. Ryoko grabbed her rifle. 

          "Did you just hear that?" Akito asked, grabbing his gun.

          "Yeah," Ryoko answered, taking a few steps forward and the sound echoed through the passageway. "It's coming from this way." she said, running a sonic scan. She picked up the pace, with Akito behind her. They stopped when it sounded again, only this time from around the corner. They carefully looked down the adjacent corridor and shone their lights along the walls. The sound erupted again and they could see massive dents in the sides of one panel, as though something was breaking through from the other side. Akito fell back, but Ryoko stepped forward.

          "What are you doing?" Akito whispered, as though he feared whatever was in there would hear him.

          "I'm taking a closer look," she said, standing in front of the panel. More dents were smashed into it from the other side and the sound of twisting metal reverberated through the walls. She raised her gun.

          "Are you nuts?!" Akito said, jumping out and grabbing her rifle. "What are you thinking?"

          "I'm going to check it out." Ryoko said simply, grabbing back her gun. "Are you going to help?" 

          "Help?" Akito asked confused. Ryoko raised her rifle and fired along the panel's edges. "You're letting it out?"

          "Uh huh. And if you're not going to help you can get out of my way," she said, firing again along the top, blowing holes through the panel. The noise subsided. "Are you going help me, or what?"

          "I suppose that's one way to go," Akito said and opened fire at the other side of the panel. They continued firing until they had completed a line of bullet holes in the form of a square around the front of the panel. Nothing came from the other side. Ryoko began to walk towards it. "Ryoko I don't think…" He was cut off as the panel came flying off the wall and something burst out. It was difficult to see with the bits of panel and sparks flying to see exactly what it was. It ploughed right past Ryoko, sending her crashing to the floor and towards Akito. He fired at it out of pure fear, but was simply brushed aside. Whatever it was, it was a little bigger than an aestivalis, but packed a much heavier punch. It ran off down the way they had just came.

          "Don't just float there!" Ryoko screamed at him. "We're going after it." She cranked up her thrusters and flew after it, grabbing Akito and tossing him into the air as she passed. They followed the slight impressions the creature had made in the floor and the scratches it left on the wall. "You're fast," she said to herself when they had almost caught up with it. They could see its red metallic heels running just ahead of them. She tried to dive and grab it, but it kept moving and she skidded to a stop on the floor.

          "You alright?" Akito asked. Ryoko brushed him aside and took off again after it. They could still here the thundering of the creature's feet against the floor, but they had lost sight of it. 

          "Where did you go?" she asked herself. Her question was answered by a sudden speck of light at the end of the corridor followed by another, then another. "It's ripping through," she said when they had caught up to it. They watched from a slight distance as whatever it was ripped its way through the metal door they had entered earlier. It burst through the hole it made and into the bright hangar and headed straight for the Nadesico. "Come on!" Ryoko said, grabbing Akito by the arm and throwing him through the hole. She drew her rifle again and fired at the creature as it made its way towards the Nadesico. Upon being hit, it stopped and turned around. It was red and black in colouration. It looked somewhat like Ryoko's red space aesti, only with sharp edges rather than circular curves. It stood there, poised to strike. Akito raised his rifle. "Wait." Ryoko put her hand over his gun. "Look." She motioned at its head, which was looking this way and that. She took a step closer, but it swung one of its arms at her, but did not move any closer. She took another step and it took a step back. She took several steps at once; the metal being held it's ground, but did not make any motion of hostility towards her. When she was close enough, she extended her out as though to shake its hand. The metal being took a step back. Ryoko placed her hand on its shoulder. The creature flung her aside and fell to its knees, clutching its head.

          "What's it doing?" Akito asked, coming closer to it. The being pounded the floor and seemed to tear at its head in frustration. Finally, after several minutes of this display it seemed to calm down. It's body sparked with bolts of energy as it fell to the floor. It's head ejected from its body and crashed on the floor not far away. As it sailed through the air, it seemed to change shape. Ryoko ran over to it and gently picked it up. The thing twitched and sparked. Ryoko fell to her aesti's knees and held it in both hands. "Ryoko!" Akito ran over to her. "What is it?" he asked. Ryoko didn't reply. Akito looked down to what she held in her hands. There, lay Finn's mangled and twisted metal body.

 **Alive?**

          "Hmm," Inez said, examining Finn's body, which was still sealed inside his pilot's suit. "Interesting."

          "What is it?" Yurika asked, standing not far from the examination table. Ryoko and the other pilots waited outside sickbay. The Nadesico still sat inside the city's hangar bay, but the green field that kept them inside had long since vanished, and a slight breeze blew in from the Martian surface.

          "It would appear that he's not dead," Inez said grimly.

          "But…?"

          "I don't know. I've never seen a piece of technology so complex before," Inez said, looking at the suit. "From what I can gather, it would appear that when his frame was destroyed, the cockpit remained intact and crashed into the ruins. Somehow he was absorbed into the structure and used as a catalyst. The city used his mind as a central processing unit in order to activate itself and, in the process, reconfigured his suit to act as a giant semiconductor. From our studies of the alien technology…"

          "But he's still alive, right?" Yurika interrupted.

          "In a nutshell, yes. I am detecting brain and circulatory activity."

          "So what's the catch?"

          "I don't know how to remove his body from the suit without killing him," Inez said. "In the original design, there's a series of locks that hold the suit together from the back. In order to secure the suit, you press the command key and it locks. When you want to get out, you hit the command key again and the back unlocks. But the suit has been modified so such a great extent that the original plans are useless. All the original joints have been fused shut, we'd have to take a welding torch to get through."

          "And you can't find a way out for him," Yurika concluded.

          "Exactly. We can simply cut through without risking damaging whatever's left of him."

          "Whatever's left?"

          "If his mind is still intact. This is all speculation, but his mind was technically in control of the city when it attacked the UF fleet and the Jovian station. But the stress of it all could have been too much for him to handle. His antics in the hangar didn't help his situation much either," Inez explained.

          "So you think his brain was fried?" Yurika said. Inez nodded. "Would it be more humane to just pull the plug?"

          "I don't know. There isn't really any plug to pull, so to speak. He's alive without any outside assistance. But if you're suggesting that it would be kinder to let him die, I can't give you an answer," she said. The suit sparked again, causing Finn's body to twitch. "And I don't know how much time he has either."

          "Inez," Yurika said, getting up from hear seat. "Get him out." 

          "Alright, Captain. Seiya," She opened a vidwindow to Seiya who was in the hangar. "I need some equipment." She listed everything she thought she might need. 

          "Where am I?" Finn asked, slowly opening his eyes. He saw nothing but black and his voice echoed off into the distance. "What's going on?" He looked at himself. He was dressed in his usual uniform. But his hands dripped with some strange substance. "What?" He examined his hands. "Blood?" He looked around again. "What's going on here?" he shouted. The only reply he got was his own echo. 

          "They're blood is on your hands," came Inez's voice, as she appeared out of the darkness. "You killed them. You killed them all."

          "Killed who? Inez, what's going on?" Finn tried to grab her by the shoulders, but he passed right through her. 

          "Name: Kasumi Mutsuki. Age: 26, scramjet fighter pilot," Inez said. "Akihiro Mijura, age 22, communications officer. Kazuki Kato, age 34, Captain. Toshio Yanagisawa, age 26, gunner. Goichi Masuda age 30 Captain." 

          "Who are they? What are you talking about? Tell me!" Finn shouted at her.

          "Jyuzo Hirata, age 28. Akio Kawamura, age 53," Inez continued.

          "What is this? Who are they?" Finn tried to shake her, but he passed right through her again.

          "Toshimichi Akamatsu, age 35. Fumio Hirose, age 22," Inez continued.

          "Stop!" Finn shouted at the top of his lungs. "Stop it! Who are they?" Inez fell silent. She displayed a vidwindow in front of them. It showed the city emerging from the cloud of dust and destroying the Jovian forces on Mars. It showed how the chulips dissolved as the space around them collapsed in on itself. "What…?" She opened another vidwindow, which contained the UF fleet and its destruction. "Inez, what is this? When did this happen?" Another window appeared, showing the transformed city ripping apart the Jovian Central Command. "How did all this happen?" She pointed her finger at him. 

          "You," she said. "You killed them."

          "I didn't kill those people!" Finn screamed at her. "I didn't do any of this!"

          "It is their blood on your hands," sshe said. "You killed them."

          "Why did you do it?" came a faint voice and a young woman dressed in a UF uniform stepped appeared. "Why did you?"

          "I didn't do anything!" Finn said again. 

          "Why?" a young man dressed in a Jovian uniform appeared next. "Why?" he said as more stepped out into view. "Why? Why? Why?" they chanted. "Why did you kill us? Why did you slaughter so many? Why did you do it?"

          "I don't understand," Finn said, falling to his knees. 

          "Why? Why did you kill us?" they chanted.

          "I didn't kill you!" Finn shouted. "I didn't!"

          "Why did you slaughter so many?"

          "ENOUGH!" Finn screamed. 

          "Their blood is on your hands, Lieutenant Finn Saotome of Nergal Special Forces, age 22, blood type B+, height 188 cm," Inez said, displaying another window. It was of Finn. He was hovering inside some kind of computer controller. It showed him attached to it. His body wired into it. It showed his view as the UF fleet was destroyed. It showed what he saw when the Jovian forces were destroyed. 

          "What? When did…?" Finn began, but was interrupted by the soldiers.

          "You did it!" they screamed at him. "It's because of you! You killed us!"

          "I didn't kill you!" Finn tried to shout at them, but his voice could not be heard over the dead's chanting. He shut his eyes and tried to block out their chanting. Then, everything went quiet. He opened his eyes. Everything had returned to black again. His hands still dripped with blood. He felt sick, as though he were choking on his own breath. His mind raced with images of what he saw himself doing. The hatred he felt for those he destroyed. The sorrow for destroying them. It tore at him. He hated himself for doing it, but at the same time was glad he'd done it. "I…I killed them?" he asked himself. 

          "Yes, you killed them," Inez said in an emotionless voice. "You killed them out of hatred." Finn looked up and saw the faces of people looking down at him, some with hatred, others with disgust. Finn shrank to his knees.

          "I…killed…them," his voice trembled.

          "I thought you didn't mind killing if you never saw the enemy's face?" Inez asked. "You did it before."

          "That doesn't mean I liked it! I had to. I didn't kill out of hatred! I killed…"

          "Because you had to?" Inez finished for him. 

          "That's right," Finn said. "I had to. It was them or me."

          "You killed thousands, just so you could live?" Inez asked. "Rather selfish, isn't it?"

          "I had to kill some of them! If I didn't, they would have killed others. They were soldiers, they accepted the risk," Finn tried to defend himself.

          "I don't think Mitsuri Akitaka, the cook on the Magnus, accepted the risk, nor did she deserve do die," Inez said. "Murderer."

          "But…"

          "Murderer!" the dead chanted. "Murderer! Murderer!" 

          "Stop it!" Finn shouted. 

          "Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!" they continued.

          "Stop!" Finn choked, shutting his eyes, but tears flowed through and dripped onto his bleeding hands. 

          "Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

          "Increase oxygen flow into the mask! I need 100 CCs of 0021. I can't feel a pulse," Inez ordered from sickbay. Around her medical staff scurried.

"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!" 

          "Stop it!" Finn pleaded, shrinking lower

          "I'm not reading a pulse. His heart's failing."

          "I killed them," Finn began to fade away into the darkness. 

          "No response. We can't use shocks with this much of a suit on. Give me 120 of adrenalin," Inez said.

          "I killed them," Finn said, only an outline of him was visible.

          "He's going into respiratory failure."

          "I don't have a pulse."

          "Too late," Inez said, looking at the heart monitor. "He's gone."

          "I killed them." Finn said, partially hidden in the darkness.

          "You're pathetic," a new voice said. "Look at you. You're pitiful." Finn looked up, recognizing the voice. 

          "Ryoko?" he asked.

          "You're going to just roll over and die? Is that it?" she demanded, coming into view.

          "But I killed them! What else can I do? I can't bring them back. Maybe I should just fade away and spare everyone the pain of my existence,"

          "Idiot!" she slapped him across the face. "Look how selfish you're being, try thinking about those who might actually care about your absence. Don't those people matter to you?" Finn remained silent. 

          "Why would anyone care about a murderer like me?" he muttered.

          "Because you're not a murderer! Grow up! This isn't just about you," Ryoko said. Finn bit his lower lip. "What about me?" she asked. Finn glanced at her. Her face scowled, but her eyes shimmered. Slowly, she began to fade from view. "Come and see me when you grow up," she said as she disappeared. This struck Finn like lightning to a tree.

          "Wait," he whispered. "Wait!" he shouted when he got no response. "WAIT!!"

          Finn's body convulsed.

          "I had a pulse. It started then stopped, ma'am," a med officer said, noticing the heart monitor jump a little. Inez quickly placed her hands over Finn's heart and pressed down firmly. "Nothing. Again." Inez pounded on his partially exposed chest. "I have a pulse!" the med officer said after a few more attempts. "It's faint. But I've got one." Finn's body suddenly took in a great breath of air. Inez quickly removed the last remaining pieces of the suit. She would have torn them off if she could, but did what should could with the cutters Seiya had provided her with. 

**Awww**

          Outside sickbay, Ryoko stood, leaning against the wall opposite the doors.

          "Well?" Ryoko demanded when Inez came out.

          "If you're asking whether he's alive, I can at least answer that question. He's alive. Although I had to tie Akatsuki to his bed and gag him. He was doing everything he could to distract us," Inez said. "You can go see him…" she trailed off when Ryoko pushed past her.

          Inside sickbay, Ryoko spotted Finn. He was still being poked and prodded by med officers, but she heard the steady beep of the heart monitor and saw the gentle rise and fall of his chest. A good portion of his shirt had been cut off and there were cuts up and down his legs from the cutters. There was an IV line sticking out of his hand and an oxygen mask over his mouth. His face was one you might expect from something having a nightmare.

          "The avenging hero," Ryoko said to herself, leaning against the wall adjacent to his bed. One of the med officers noticed Ryoko and pulled a chair up to the bed for her. She took it and sat down, taking Finn's hand. "Idiot," she said to herself, allowing a small smile to slip through. "When will he wake up?" she asked the officer beside her.

          "Tough to say," he said, putting another bag of fluid onto Finn's IV. "I wouldn't say for a while though. He was dead, after all. And medically speaking he should have stayed that way." The word 'dead' sent shivers down Ryoko's spine. "But with this guy…" he said, thinking back to the numerous times Finn had been shot at, burned up, knocked over, and blown up. "who knows?" He drew a few vials of blood, stuck them in a bag, and left. Most of the other staff miraculously finished what they were doing and left. With exception to one nurse who took a seat way off on the other side of the room. Behind the curtain she could hear Akatsuki pull at the straps that held him down. Ryoko ignored him and gave Finn's hand a gentle squeeze. She jumped a little when she felt, or thought she felt, a slight squeeze back. She looked at him more closely now that everyone had left. He looked very frail, as though even the slightest breeze would knock him over. A tear rolled down Ryoko's cheek and dropped onto Finn's hand that she was holding. She was startled by a sudden but slight slap as a small notebook fell out of her pocket and fell open onto the floor. She picked it up and read the page fate had opened to her. She glanced up from the page noticed something hanging around his neck. Slowly, she reached for it. She unclasped the chain and examined the object that hung from it. It was a gold ring with tiny specks that sparkled in the light. She held the ring in the light and saw something inscribed on the inside. She drew a quick breath upon reading what had been cut into it She closed her hand around the ring and held onto it tightly. The dam of tears broke as they flowed freely from her eyes.

          "Yes," She managed to say and held his hand tighter than before.

          Ryoko slowly woke. She raised her head and opened her eyes, taking in what she saw around her. It was the Nadesico's sickbay. Her eyes slowly looked around the room. She looked at the foot of the bed she was sitting by and slowly traced up, taking in the sight of its occupant. Finn lay there, looking pretty much in the same shape he did when she had first seen him the night before. However, his face was no longer contorted and twisted. Instead, it held a slight, content looking smile. She smiled back at him, tears, again, welled in her eyes. Clutching his hand, which now felt warm and alive, rather than cold and lifeless as it had the night before, she buried her head in his chest. Finn began to stir a few moments later.

          "Finn?" she asked when his eyes opened a crack. 

          "Mmm?" was the voice that managed to escape his throat. "Ryoko." He stopped when a fit of coughing overtook him.

          "Should I call the nurse?" Ryoko asked.

          "I'm," he said, coughing up small spatters of blood. He took several deep breaths. "I'm ok." He fell back against the pillow. He stared at the buzzing florescent light overhead. "What's going to happen?" he asked weakly.

          "About what?" Ryoko asked, brushing the tears from her eyes.

          "It's over," he said. "This war's over. But…"

          "But what?"

          "At what cost?" he said quietly. 

          "Just forget about it. It's over, that's all that's important." 

          "I can't," he said, covering his face with his hands. "I can't." He looked at her. "I killed them. I was the one who killed them. How can I go on knowing that I was responsible for it all?"

          "But…"

          "I don't know," he said. "I don't know." 

"Look at you," Ryoko said sternly. "Here you are, wallowing in your own sorrow. Think about it. You ended the war. It's as simple as that. You did what probably any of us would have done given the opportunity." They remained in silence for a long time. 

"I want to ask you something," he looked into Ryoko's eyes. "Can you stand being with me, knowing full well what I've done?" Ryoko looked at him. " I need to know," he pressed.

"I'll always," she hesitated and tried to gather her thoughts. "You've put your neck on the line for me time and again. You've gotten us out of trouble when I would have said it was impossible. You've blown yourself up more times than I can count." She fell silent and gathered up all her courage. "I'll always be with you." 

"Ryoko I…" Finn stopped. Their eyes locked and slowly the gap between them began to shorten. They both closed their eyes. Ryoko trembled slightly as their lips brushed together. Finn felt his body jump at this first contact. 

"Good morning Ryoko," Inez said as she strolled through the doors and into the room. Finn and Ryoko quickly pulled away from one another, both turning a deep shade of red. "You're awake?" she gaped at Finn, seeing him sitting up and conscious.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't be?" Finn asked, puzzled.

"Well, considering you were dead and the damage your body sustained, I'm surprised that you're conscious so soon," Inez said, scribbling something on her clipboard. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone's been playing hockey with me as the puck." Finn replied, wiping a small dribble of blood from an open cut on his face. "Is that abnormal too?"

"No. By all accounts you should be dead right now. If you weren't feeling bad at all then I would be concerned," Inez said in her usual explanation tone of voice. "It's a joke," she said when she saw Finn and Ryoko looked at her strangely. "But how do you feel in comparison to the other times you've been here?"

"About the same, I guess," Finn replied. "I feel more like I've been beaten up than almost died."

"I see," Inez scribbled some more on her clipboard. "Hmm."

"Something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Inez said quickly. "Ryoko, I have to make sure Saotome doesn't have any long term or disabling injuries. Why don't you head to the cafeteria and get something to eat?" 

"Alright," Ryoko gave Finn's hand a quick squeeze and left. 

"So what's the bad news?" Finn asked as soon as the doors closed.

"I'm concerned about something," Inez said.

"And that would be?"

"You seem to be healing at an artificially accelerated rate," Inez said simply. "I've talked with all the medical personnel and they haven't given you anything that would speed up the recovery process this quickly."

"You're talking about this as if it's a bad thing," Finn said.

"It could very well be," she said. "Look, I'm going to be frank here."

"Ok, can I still be Finn?" 

"This isn't a joke! I've gone through all the data the medical component on your communicator recorded, and from the stresses your body had undergone and the damage you received, I can find no reason why you are still alive. Even the toughest person in peak physical and mental health would have died. But for some reason, you did not," Inez said. "And even if by some miraculous event that they did survive, they would not be up and about so quickly, if at all. It just isn't at all what I'd expect. Something doesn't add up."

"So what's the bad news then?"

"I don't know just yet," Inez replied. "But it worries me. Anyway, let's get started, shall we? First, I'd like you to stand up."

"No problem." Finn hopped out of the bed. "No…problem…" he said again, only this time holding onto the edge of the bed to support himself.

"Well, that proves you actually have some kind of physical limit. It's not surprising, considering how much blood you lost," Inez said. Finn narrowed his eyes. "Now, walk to the other end of the room." Finn, more or less, did so. Inez then poked him with certain instruments, drew more blood for tests, and gave him every kind of sight, hearing, and recognition test known to mankind. "Do you remember what happened to you?" she asked, continuously scribbling on her clipboard. Finn stopped his hobbling. "Do you?"

"Kind of," Finn said, sitting down at the edge of his bed. 

"Tell me what you remember." Finn stayed silent. "This is very important."

"Alright," Finn said, frustrated. "Look, I remember being blown up in Skywarp. There was this light. The next thing I new, I saw the chulips not far from the ruins. It felt like I was one giant entity and just crushed them. Then I thought about the UF and all of a sudden there I was, floating out in the middle of space. I kept thinking how much I hated them, how much I just wanted all of this to end. The next thing I knew, they were gone, like I had willed them out of existence. It was the same with the Jovians. All that was going through my mind was how much I just wanted all this to end and it did. They all just vanished."

"So you have no memory of how you did this? Are you sure it wasn't just a dream? When we found you, you were in pretty bad shape," Inez said, testing Finn.

"No, it wasn't a dream. I know what I did. There's no mistaking it for a dream," Finn replied, in an unusual tone of voice.

'Anger? No, that's not it,' Inez thought. To her, his voice sounded angry but glad at the same time. "But you have no idea how you accomplished this? And you're certain it wasn't a dream. Is that correct?" Finn nodded. Inez began another series of tests.

"Now that's a woman," Finn said, catching Ryoko out of the corner of his eye as she came back. Inez flipped to the next card. "That's a tree. That's a car. That's…" he looked at the inkblot. "an old man fashioning a kayak out of a log?"

"That's correct. Well, there seems to be no serious damage physically. And you're as mentally fit as you ever were, not that I can comment on that. Ryoko, it's a good thing you're here. I need you for the last few tests," Inez said, seeing Ryoko standing by the doors. "What do you have under your arm?"

"It's," Ryoko blushed slightly as she came forward. "It's a fresh set of clothes. I mean, just look at him."

"What's wrong with…?" Finn looked at himself. He was still wearing the cut, torn, and bloodstained remnants of his uniform. "Oh, right." 

"And might I suggest a shower?" Inez said, noticing the dried blood all over him.

"Right," Finn said, gratefully taking the clothes.

"When you're finished," Inez said. "I'd like you to come down to the hangar. There's one more test I'd like to perform." Finn hobbled off towards the doors. "Where are you going?"

"I think after all this, I should at least get to use my own shower," he replied as he disappeared out into the hallway Ryoko got up to go after him, but Inez stopped her.

"I need you to prep your aestevalis. I need you to take him outside," she said.

"How does he look?" Ryoko asked.

"He seems fine. There's just one thing I want to see," Inez lowered her voice. "You haven't talked about the city with him, have you?" Ryoko shook her head. "Good." 

**Crikey!**

Ryoko stood against the wall outside Finn's room. Ten minutes or so had passed since she had last seen him limping away and out of sickbay. She stared at her feet and took no notice of people coming and going from the rooms around her. 

'I wonder if…' she began to let her mind wander. 'Would he have…?' Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud shriek from Finn's room. Ryoko snapped back into reality and kicked the door down. 

"Finn, you alright?" she shouted. "Finn? Hello?" she asked when she got no reply. She knocked on the bathroom door. "Finn, you alright in there?" She got no response. She slid the door open and cocked her head to one side. "What are you doing?" she asked Finn, who had a towel wrapped around his waist and was standing still, every joint rigid, as though someone had frozen his body like that. "Hello?" She waved her hand in front of his face.

"Kah…" Finn said, his teeth grinding together. "Aftershave…dripped…in cut," he managed to say. Ryoko looked at the small bottle of aftershave he held in his hand and traced a small drop as it dripped off his chin and landed in one of the open gashes across his chest. Ryoko facefaulted. 

"And here I thought you were in some kind of trouble!" she said, shaking him, causing his towel to begin to unravel from around his waist. Ryoko, upon seeing this, instinctively closed her fist and brought it back, but didn't conclude the potential punch. She rewound the towel around his hips. Finn, still in some coma-like, didn't seem to notice. "Wakey wakey." She poked him in the chest. However, she got no reaction. She spotted the bottle in his hand and took it. Pouring a few drops onto her finger, she pressed the liquid into one of Finn's gashes.

"Gah!!" he came back to reality. "What was that for?"

"Hey, welcome back to the world of moving parts," Ryoko laughed. "Come on, get dressed or I'm going to have to pour the whole bottle on that." She flicked his chest causing Finn to wince lightly. 

 She waited outside the broken door while he changed. He emerged later wearing the sweats and t-shirt Ryoko had provided him with. Not that he had much choice in terms of clothes anyway. A few red stains seeped through the material of his shirt as cuts opened slightly as he moved. He, with help from Ryoko, managed to hobble his way to the hangar, stopping along the way once for a can of pop.

"I guess I'm still not a 100%," he said as he sat down on some empty crates to rest. He threw his empty pop can into a recycling bin not far away.

"I'm not surprised," Ryoko said, joining him. "Even with your knack for staying alive, I'm surprised you even made it." She thought about those words the second she uttered them. 'But what if he didn't survive?' she asked herself. "But I'm glad to have you back," She said aloud and slapped him on the back. Finn looked at her and smiled. He was about to reach for her hand when Inez appeared and beckoned them to join her by Ryoko's aesti. They hitched a rid on the back of an aestivalis transport that was headed in that direction.

"So what's next? You going to shoot me out of the gravity blast or something?" Finn asked as they approached.

"As much as that would prove interesting, I have a much simpler test in mind," Inez said as they boarded the elevator that took them to the upper deck of the hangar. "Here." She handed Finn a long strip of cloth, who looked at it strangely. "It's a blindfold," she explained. "I want you to put it on and get into the aestivalis. Ryoko, you're going to take him outside." 

"Seems simple enough," Finn said, tying the cloth around his head and across his eyes. He made his way to Ryoko's aesti, or rather thought he did. Ryoko yanked him back as he almost walked off the edge of the deck. 

"Don't you think it would be better if you got in first?" Ryoko asked. "Idiot," She added, trying to sound like her normal self, but couldn't stifle a smirk.

"Oh, right. Woops," Finn said, pulling the blindfold off and crawling into Ryoko's aesti. He took a seat along the side of the pilot's seat. Ryoko climbed in. 

"Now, Saotome, put the blindfold on," Inez said from a vidwindow. Finn did as he was instructed. "Ryoko, now I want you to take him outside to the surface. I'll instruct you further then, and Saotome, do not take that blindfold off," she added, noticing Finn lifting the bottom of the cloth up a little.

"Right," he said, flipping the cloth back down.  He felt the aesti walk forward and out. However, he was startled slightly when they made the drop from the Nadesico onto the city's hangar floor. He reached out to brace himself. He grabbed onto something that felt familiar. The next thing he knew his face was getting to know Ryoko's side monitor a little better. "Owchies," he managed to say as Ryoko drew her fist back. He peeled himself off the monitor and sat down again.

"Ok, we're outside, just like you said," Ryoko said as her aesti hit the ground. They had travelled a few minutes away from the city. They now stood on a hilltop, overlooking the city. It appeared even bigger from the outside. It's main tower stretching up towards the sky and the long stretches of smoothed metal that she guessed to be roads lay before her.

"Alright Lieutenant. Remove the blindfold," Inez said. 

"Ok," Finn said, untying the cloth. "What next?"

"What do you see in front of you?" Inez asked. Finn opened his eyes and looked. His eyes seemed to bug out of his head.

"What…the…?" He rubbed his eyes, but what he saw didn't change. 

"Do you recognize that?" Inez asked. Finn continued to stare at the massive construct before him.

"Agh!" He clutched his head in agony and fell to the aesti's floor.

"Finn?!" Ryoko leapt out of her seat and down beside him. Finn's face was pressed against the floor, but he was holding his head as though he had just been shot. "Inez, what's going on?"

"I don't know," Inez said from the Nadesico. She quickly began to check the data from Finn's communicator. However, her readouts were all blank. "Ryoko, is he wearing his communictor?"

"No, I don't see it," Ryoko said, trying to pull Finn up, but he shook free and knelt there, his eyes shut tight. "I'm bringing him back." She jumped back into her seat and cranked the robot's treads to maximum.

"Ryoko, what happened?" Inez asked, as Ryoko landed in her aesti's docking mechanism.

"I don't know," Ryoko said, climbing out, carrying an unconscious Finn over her shoulder. "He was looking at the city when he just started holding his head as though someone had taken a hammer to it," she said, laying him down on the stretcher the med team had waiting for him. They quickly rushed him from the hangar, Inez led the way and Ryoko followed. When to returned to sickbay, they hauled Finn onto an examination table.

"No vital sign deterioration," one officer said as she hooked Finn up to the monitoring system. "His heart rate is high, but not unusual given the circumstances."

"There's no sign of any structural fractures on his skull either," another one said. Ryoko took a seat by the doors and watched.

"I can't find anything wrong with him," Inez said. "Ryoko, you said he collapsed holding his head, right?" Ryoko nodded. "It could be some kind of internal injury then, something we didn't find earlier. Su," she ordered. "prep the MRI." Su, one of the med team ran over to one of the machines and punched in some controls. "We're looking for any internal abnormalities. All variables."

"Right," Su answered, hitting more controls. "It's ready." They moved Finn from the table to the MRI's conveyer. Su hit the start command and Finn slowly disappeared into the long tube that would scan his body. "The results are beginning to come in, ma'am." Inez sat down at the computer terminal.

"There isn't any internal bleeding. That's one piece of good news," Inez said, typing away. "Uh oh."

"What is it?" Ryoko asked, standing behind her.

"I don't know just yet. Give me a second," Inez continued to go through the data. "Well, he's right now he's in stable condition. That's one piece of good news. But…" 

"What is it?" Ryoko pressed.

"This is not good," Inez said to herself, ignoring Ryoko. 

"Damnit, tell me what's going on!" Ryoko demanded. Inez continued to sit there clicking on this and that. It was a few minutes before she said anything.

"It is as I feared," Inez said, swivelling her chair around to face Ryoko. "It's his IFS. It's beginning to deteriorate."

"What does that mean?" Ryoko asked.

"Look here," Inez said, displaying an image on her computer screen. "This is what a normal IFS implant looks like in the body." The image showed a small dot at the base of the brain with tiny blew strands extending to the body's major nerve centres. "Normally, these nanomachines go into a state of dormancy and only activate when the pilot is using the interface. They serve as a link between the pilot and the machines. But this is what Saotome's IFS looks like." She brought another image onscreen. It showed a large, blinking red light near the brain with thick red lines running all over his body. "With a normal IFS, a certain number of nanomachines are injected into the body. These nanomachines then replicate until there are enough to control something with an IFS interface. Saotome's nanomachines have replicated several times that of a normal implant, which caused them to entangled themselves with every nerve in his body. His implant has spread to such a large extent that it can no longer support itself and is beginning to malfunction, effecting brain activity and chemical secretion."

"Is there anything you can do?" Ryoko asked.

"I'm not sure," Inez replied.

"And what happens if you do nothing?"

"His nerve centres will begin to shut down and eventually cause his brain to cease functioning," Inez said simply. She moved over to a cabinet and retrieved a nanoinjector.

"What are you doing?" Ryoko asked when she saw the injector.

"A shot of fresh nanomachines should help stabilize his system. Problem is it's only temporary. But it will give me some time to research this." 

**Nano Nano**

          "Well?" Ryoko asked impatiently. She, the Captain, and the other pilots had assembled on the bridge. They had decided to move the Nadesico out of the city and had landed not far away. Apparently no one knew just what to do yet. There was no reason to fight, but the main question was what to do with the city, which some had called Fortress Magnum.

          "I have isolated the cause of Lt. Saotome's nanomachine deterioration," Inez said. "I extracted a small cluster using micro surgery techniques and managed to tap into their data collection programme. This programme records what the nanomachine network is doing and stores it. It would appear, as some of you already know, that Saotome's nanomachines are several times the number you four have and are spread in higher concentrations throughout his body. This was caused by some kind of accident during his IFS experimentation. However, due to the experience of controlling the Fort Mag…"

          "We know that," Ryoko said. "Skip ahead a few pages."

          "The injection of fresh nanomachines seems to have stabilized his condition. However, this is only temporary. Soon the source data will spread and the deterioration will continue."

          "So what exactly can we do about this?" Yurika asked, raising her hand.

          "We can't keep giving him fresh nanomachines. It will only work a few times before it becomes ineffective. However, an injection of nanomachines taken from a pilot with a stable IFS implant could, in theory, give his nanomachines the data required to go into their dormant state and stop spreading," Inez explained. "So I ask for volunteers. But I must warn you, this is only theoretical and the procedure to remove a sufficient cluster of nanomachines would be quite dangerous." 

          "What kind of danger are we talking here?" Akito asked.

          "The concentrations throughout your body would not be sufficient. We would have to extract them from the larger cluster they form at the base of your brain." 

          "So we're talking brain surgery here?" Hikaru asked.

          "This isn't rocket science, Hikaru. It's only brain surgery," Izumi snorted. 

          "What about that snake Akatsuki?" Ryoko asked. "He seems pretty expendable to me."

          "It's a nice thought, but we can't use him. The nanomachines tie themselves into your cranial system. They form a backup copy of your memories. It's like making a recovery disk for a computer. However, unlike a computer, this backup also reflects your personality. In order to be of any use, you have to be willing, which makes your nanomachines willing. So only you four are useful because you have a positive relationship with Saotome. I hardly think Akatsuki would be willing to help us," Inez explained.

          "I'll do it," Ryoko said, stepping forward. 

          "You could all see that one coming, right?" the author laughs. "I guess it was kind of obvious. Anyway," he said, addressing the cast. "Carry on."

          "Are you sure? This is a very dangerous situation you'll be putting yourself in," Inez cautioned.

          "Yeah yeah, I know all that," Ryoko said. "But I'm probably the only pilot you'll get who'll actually want to do this," she added quickly. "And what are you laughing at, Izumi?"

          "Saotome!" Izumi and Hikaru sang together.

          "It…it's not like that." Ryoko said, turning a nice shade of red. "Someone, back me up here."

          "Oh Saotome!" they sang again.

          "Anyway," Inez interrupted them. "It will take an hour or two to get everything ready. I'd try and relax until then. And," she said specifically to Hikaru and Izumi, "No stresses. The last thing we need is for her mind to be anxious while we're working. Understood?"

          "Yes ma'am," they said in unison, but still laughing. 

          "You're dismissed until then," Yurika said. They dispersed. Ryoko headed for the observation deck, Hikaru and Izumi decided to leave her alone. 

          Ryoko sat on the blanket she and Finn had shared. She took in his scent from the fabric. It comforted her in one way, and terrified her in another. His scent made her feel at east, but it also reminded her of what she had to lose. Not just her life, something much more precious than that. She remembered their time on Dusty and stretched out on the blanket, a smile on her face. 

          Ryoko woke some time later as the door to the observation deck slid quietly open. She lifted her head up to see who had intruded on her uneasy sleep.

          "Tenkawa?" she asked, picking herself up off the ground.

          "Ryoko, I…" Akito said nervously. He fell silent and drew her into his arms.

          "What are you doing?" Ryoko asked. However, she did not protest. This was what she would have killed for at one time. But now…

          "Ryoko, if you make it through this," he took a deep breath. "I want you to be with me." This made Ryoko's heart stop for a moment. "When you were gone, I couldn't stop thinking about you," he said, and after some time had passed held her tighter.

          "Stop," she whispered. "Stop it!" She pulled herself out of his grasp.

          "What is it?" Akito asked, confused.

          "Look Akito. At one time I would have jumped at this opportunity. But…"

          "But what?" Akito pressed.

          "I can't. I just can't. We don't belong together. What happened when Sao…Finn," she corrected herself. "and I were sucked into that chulip…"

          "What is it?" 

          "Don't you get it? You can't see it? We don't belong together," she said again. "Besides, you belong with Yurika. You're only doing this to make me feel better," she added.

          "But why?" Akito pressed, taking a step closer. 

          "Because," Ryoko said, taking a step back. "I…"

          "Ryoko, it's time." Inez said over the comlink.

          "Be right there," Ryoko said and closed the window. "Look, Tenkawa. I'm flattered, but think about it," she said and left, leaving Akito standing there. The door shut and he sat down to think about this. 

          "What's this?" He asked himself when he it was not grass that touched his hands. He picked up the blanket.

          "Alright Inez, I'm here," Ryoko said as she came into sickbay. She felt a twinge of fear in the pit of her stomach, but she tried to force it out of her mind. There had been some big changes to the room since she last visited it earlier that day. Two operating tables had been placed in the centre of the room, with bright lights hanging overhead and there were monitors, machines, and all kinds of strange devices that beeped and flashed. Finn already occupied one table. She could see the steady beat of his heart on the monitor and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. They had removed his shirt and applied every kind of instrument to almost every available part of his exposed body. However, one thing puzzled her. Finn lay face down, his face exposed through a padded hole, like something you'd find at a masseuse. 

          "Over here, Ryoko," came a voice from the other side of the room. There were at least a dozen people scurrying setting monitors up and bringing necessary programmes online. Ryoko found Inez typing away at a computer terminal.

          "Ok, let's do this," Ryoko said. "Before I loose my nerve," she added to herself. "What's that?"

          "It's a virtual reality simulation of what we expect to encounter when we open you," Inez said. Ryoko cringed at her choice of words.

          "How does it look?"

          "I'm not going to lie to you," Inez said, closing the simulation. "This is going to be a lot harder than it looks." She spun around in her chair, her white lab coat trailing behind her. She led Ryoko over to a drawn curtain. "Here." She handed Ryoko a hospital gown and closed the curtain. 

          "Just one question," Ryoko said when she had finished changing. "Why is he facedown?"

          "We're going in from the neck, it's the closest entry point to the nanomachine cluster. It's where we'll be opening you up as well." Inez said.

          "You sound like you're about to dismantle a machine," Ryoko said. "Not go into two people's brains."

          "Well, like I said when I first joined the ship, whether anyone is alive and or dead doesn't mean that much to me," Inez said, checking some of the monitors.

          "So you couldn't care less if we both snuff it?" Ryoko asked. Fear began to bubble within her, but she did her best to suppress it. She felt slightly insulted at being told her life was in the hands of someone who didn't care whether she lived or died. "Don't our lives matter to you?"

          "I didn't say that," Inez said, turning to face her. "I suppose what I just said isn't entirely accurate. I've come to think of everyone on the Nadesico as more than just people to interact with. I suppose, in a way, I've come to think of you as an extended family. I guess old habits aren't so easy to get rid of." Inez hit a switch and all the monitors surrounding the operating tables came to life. "Would you like me to show you what we'll be doing, to put your mind at ease? If you think we're going to have your organs spread across the table, you're quite mistaken. This is surgery, while extremely complicated and delicate, involves a small hole the size of a quarter in the back of your head, and…"

          "Sorry, but that's all I needed to know. I'd rather remain blissfully ignorant of the rest," Ryoko said, putting up her hand to stop Inez. 

          "Very well," Inez said. "Then I'd like you to lay facedown on the table." Ryoko walked over, feeling a cold sensation as her bare feet touched the hard metal floor. "Make yourself comfortable. You're going to be there for quite a while." 

          "Alright." Ryoko lay down on the table, the cold sensation spreading throughout her entire body. She felt the chain around her neck make a soft impression in her skin. Staff gathered around. Every pair of hands that could fit around them was there, attaching electrodes and other recording instruments. She didn't need a heart monitor; she could feel her heart ready to burst from her chest.

          "Ryoko," Inez said when they turned her heart monitor on. "You've got to calm down."

          "Easier said than done," Ryoko replied. An assistant took one of Ryokos hands and slid an IV line into it. Ryoko winced for a moment at the sudden contact of the needle pushing into her skin.

          "We're going to give you something to knock you out. It would be best if you didn't see what was going on. As Hikaru might put it, you'd probably 'freak out'," Inez said, testing these words that she had not used in that combination until now. 

          "Yeah, that's a great way to calm your patients down," Ryoko said sarcastically.

          "Su, add 0048 into Subaru's IV," Inez ordered. Ryoko watched as best she could from her spot as Su stuck a blue liquid into her IV and saw it drip into the tube and down to her hand. "You shouldn't feel anything. When you wake up you might have a bit of a headache." 

          "Right," Ryoko said. The room slowly began to go fuzzy. She glanced from side to side; everything appeared to be moving in slow motion. She could hear Inez talking, but she couldn't make out the words. Calmness fell over her as she succumbed to sleep. 

          "Good, she's out," Inez said, poking Ryoko with her pen. Su proceeded to immobilize her neck with a clamp. "Keep adding it every hour. We don't want her waking up." She washed her hands as any surgeon would do before an operation and put on the necessary dress. The med team stood ready, some with instruments, others constantly watching the various monitors and other things that went beep. Inez took a deep breath and took a scalpel. "Here we go."

**Those Words We Will Say Someday**

          Ryoko opened her eyes slowly. Everything was blurred.

"What?" She pulled herself off the ground, a und her, a grassy field. There was a cliff far to her right with the faint sound of the ocean crashing at its base. From her left came a steady, cool breeze. She looked at herself, and found she was wearing a faded yellow sundress, like the one she had been released from hospital in on Dusty. She walked towards the cliff edge; her bare feet making small impressions in the dark green grass. Far below her, she could hear the gentle crash of the waves. The sun shone brightly down overhead and warmed the cool air around her. "Where am I?"

"Why, you're on the planet Mars," came a voice from behind her.

"Inez?" Ryoko asked, turning around. "What's going on? What is this place?"

"This is whatever you choose to make it," Inez answered.

"Like that helps," Ryoko said. "Am I dead?" she asked herself. "Inez, tell me what's going on." Inez didn't say anything. She stood staring off at the horizon.  "What is it?" Inez pointed at a section of the cliff edge not far away. Ryoko squinted her eyes, trying to make out what she was at. Two people hung onto an exposed rock on the cliff's wall. She then burst into a run, and Inez followed slowly. When Ryoko skidded to a stop she gaped at what she saw. There, hanging on for dear life, was Finn, with Akatsuki not far below. Akatsuki grabbed at Finn's ankles, trying to rip him off the wall. "Finn!" She lay down and stretched her hand out to him. "Grab on!" Finn looked up and saw her. He tightened his grip on the rock and extended his hand out. "You've almost got it, come on!"

"No…you…don't!" Akatsuki yelled and pulled at Finn's ankle. Finn's hand clutched back onto the rock. Finn looked at Ryoko, but she couldn't read the expression on his face. It was…

"Fear?" she asked herself. She reached for him again. "Finn!"

"No!" Akatsuki yanked at Finn's legs again, causing him to slide down several feet below Akatsuki. "This time you're staying dead!" he screamed and proceeded to kick Finn about the face and stepped on his hands, which desperately clung. Ryoko made a move to climb down and assist Finn, but Inez, having caught up, put a hand on her shoulder. 

"You cannot interfere. This is their fight," she said. 

"You can't be serious!" Ryoko snapped and shook her off. She began to climb down, but Inez held onto her. "Let me go!" She struggled, watching in horror as Akatsuki kicked ferociously at Finn's bruised face and bloodied hands.

"This time you won't come back!" Akatsuki said, crushing Finn's hands under his boot. Finn lost his grip and began to fall.

"Finn!" Ryoko struggled some more. "Let me go!"

"It would appear that the battle has been decided," Inez said. 

"Decided my ass!" Ryoko burst free of Inez's grasp and knelt by the edge. She could see Finn's body fall until it finally disappeared into the dark blue abyss below. "Finn!" Her heart felt as though someone had driven a dagger into it. "Finn!" she sobbed in both anger and sorrow, covering her face with her hands, as though if she blocked this sight from view, she would she would still see Finn still hanging onto the edge and it would be Akatsuki's body falling. However, when she dared to take a look, Akatsuki still clung there. Finn was now no longer visible. She shut her eyes again, shedding tears of anguish and fury.

"Help me!" Akatsuki said, grabbing hold of an exposed root that dangled over the edge. Ryoko opened her eyes, and saw the monster of a man below her. She stood up, anger taking control of her, and drove her heal onto Akatsuki's clinging hands. "What are you doing?" She continued to stomp on his hand, but he kept pulling himself further and further to safety.

"Just die!" she cried and kicked his throat. "Just die like the miserable worm you are!" Akatsuki brushed her aside and brought the rest of his body up over the edge. Ryoko pulled him up by his throat and delivered her knee right into his stomach. "He's gone," she heaved. "And it's all because of you!"

"Good riddance!" Akatsuki spat at her, blood dripping from his mouth. "There's nothing you can do about it anyway!" Ryoko, consumed, with anger, drove her fist into his face and threw him to the ground. He lay there coughing up blood while Ryoko furiously kicked him in the ribs until he stopped moving all together. She collapsed on the ground, taking in great breaths of air. 

"Inez," She said, her voice trembling and her hair casting a dark shadow over her face. "Is it true? Is he gone?" Inez stood silent. "Answer me!"  

"Look here," Inez said, motioning across the meadow. "This is life. What you see here is all of what life is. Down there," She motioned to the ocean below. "That is death."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Ryoko asked, still gasping for breath. "Choose between life or death?" She added angrily.

"That is correct."

"How can you even ask that of me?" Ryoko screamed at her. "How can you call yourself a human being and ask me to do that?"

"I'm am merely a guide. It is not my place to interfere. You have to choose a path."

"What the hell is going on here?!" Ryoko said. "This can't be real. It can't be! None of this is possible!" 

"You must choose," Inez said emotionlessly.

"To hell with you!" Ryoko swung her fist at Inez, but she passed right through her. "You're nothing but a doll, a fucking puppet. Who's pulling your strings? If this is what it means to live. Then maybe I'd rather be dead!"  She stood up and began to step off the cliff. However, before she did, Inez grabbed her.

"You have to think about this. This is not something that should be decided in a fit of passion," Inez cautioned her.

"Shut up!" Ryoko struggled. "Let me go!"

"Not until you calm down," Inez held fast. "I cannot allow you to make your decision based on fury and despair."

"I said let me go!" Ryoko ripped free and sprinted forward, only to have Inez pull her back. She fell to the ground, a stick sliced a small cut into her face. Ryoko pulled free and ran forward.

"Come back!" Inez shouted. However, Ryoko ignored her and dove straight off. She began to fall, the blue abyss doubling in size every second. Her hair flew wildly around her. Inez watched helplessly as she plunged into the blue ocean below. 

"Where am I?" Ryoko lifted her head up. A small trickle of blood fell down her face. Everything around her was black. There didn't seem to be any up or down. A light shone down on her. She remembered Finn falling, and Akatsuki, and Inez. "Was it all for nothing?" she asked herself and began to run. She ran as hard as she could, not caring where she was going, for there was nothing around here, just blackness everywhere. "Finn!" She shouted. "Finn! Where are you?!" A vidwindow popped up in front of her. A message blinked at the bottom of the screen. "What the?" She touched the blinking light and a word appeared. 

"Life" the screen read. It showed Ryoko stepping off the shuttle when she first arrived at the L2 colony. It showed her rooming with Hikaru and Izumi. It showed her Tendo's accident. It showed her joining the Nadesico. "Continue? Y/N" Appeared on the screen. She hit yes. "Death" was the next word that appeared on the screen. It showed Ryoko destroying Jovian ships, the crewmen's screams of fear as their ships erupted in a brilliant display of fire. 

"Stop it!" Ryoko said. "Just stop it." The screen continued to show images. Dimojin's being destroyed, Ryoko's face of satisfaction after each kill. It showed her applying enemy kill marks on her aesti. The screen showed beeped at her. 

"Why do you fight?" it read.

"What?" Ryoko stared at the screen.

"Why do you fight?"

"I fight because I'm a soldier. It's what I do," Ryoko said. "What does it matter to you, anyway?"

"Fighting causes death. Death brings sorrow. You fight, therefore you kill, therefore you bring sorrow," the text scrolled onscreen. 

"Am I happy about it? Of course not, how could I be happy about it? But it's all I know how to do," Ryoko said angrily at the screen. 

"Death, sorrow, pain." 

"Shut up!" Ryoko screamed. 

"Death, blood, destruction."

"Just stop it!"

"You fight because you are a soldier. Soldiers kill. You kill. You have killed. You have murdered." the screen showed Ryoko beating Akatsuki. It showed the anger in her eyes the fury and the hatred behind each blow. It showed the blood dripping from Akatsuki's mouth, his ribs cracking, his jaw splitting. All of this played across the screen.

"Just stop it!" Ryoko said again.

"Why do you fight?" the screen read after a while had passed.

"I don't know." Ryoko said quietly. "Tell me, why?"

"Error:" The screen read. "The function of a soldier is to be a unit of one faction, working with other units to achieve objectives."

"So I'm just a cog in the machine?" Ryoko asked.

"Affirmative," The screen read. "You are a strategic unit, designed to seek and destroy other enemy strategic units. Death, sorrow, pain, blood…" These images scrolled down the screen. 

          "Will you just stop it?!" Ryoko punched the screen, but her fist hit nothing but air. "I'm only human."

          "You are human. Definition: Having form of nature that is classified as homos sapien. Only known species of life that has the ability of complex thought, reasoning, and social structure. History: is a series of wars, each followed by temporary ceasefires while all factions regenerate fighting capacities."

          "But I'm fighting to protect other people," Ryoko protested.

          "Your actions only further your function as a soldier."

          "But soldiers aren't supposed to think about that. We do what we have to do. If it protects other people, what's wrong with that?" Ryoko shot back. The screen showed the faces of Jovian soldiers she killed. It showed their families weeping.

          "Human – soldier – killer" 

          "Stop it!" Ryoko screamed, her voice echoed and reverberated throughout the infinite space she was trapped in.

          "Continue? Y/N" 

          "Why should I, if you're going to just trash me?" Ryoko demanded.

          "Continue? Y/N" Ryoko was about to touch the 'No' icon. However, she hesitated. "Continue? Y/N" Quickly she went for the "No" icon again. But something held her back. Some part of her told her to hit 'Yes'.

          "I'll just go with my gut," Ryoko said and, before she lost her nerve, hit the 'Yes' icon. She closed her eyes, fearing what the next dreadful word would appear. But after a few minutes of an eerie quiet, she gave in and opened her eyes.

          "Love" Was the word displayed on the screen.

          "Love?" Ryoko asked.

          "Love" The word was followed by images from Ryoko's memory of her father tucking her in at night. Driving her to school. Him standing inside the terminal watching her shuttle leave for the L2 colony. "Humans are also the only known species of organism to have the ability to love." The screen showed Finn's first arrival on the Nadesico. It showed he and Ryoko being sucked into the chulip and them on Dusty. It showed them sleep together. It showed Finn diving back into the battle on Mars after Ryoko. It showed Ryoko at Finn's bedside. It showed her diving off the cliff after him. "Do you love?"

          "I guess…" Ryoko said, indecisively.

          "Input insufficient: You are human, you have the capacity to love. Do you love?" The screen displayed Finn's face. "Do you love? Y/N" Ryoko stared at the screen.

          "Yes," she said. "I do love. I love Finn." Tears came to her eyes. "But…

          "You love. You are human. You love Finn Saotome."

          "Yes! I do love him! I'll never see him again. I've got nothing left. He's dead, I'm dead, we're both gone! If I weren't already dead I'd put myself out of my misery!"

          "Error:"

          "What, you mean this is just the start? Do you have something else horrible planned in your little black box?" Ryoko said.

          "Error: You are not dead."

          "What?" Ryoko stared at the screen.

          "You are alive. You love." The window beeped. "Continue? Y/N" Ryoko's hand trembled as she touched the "Yes" icon. "Please wait." The window showed a small hourglass. There was a bright flash of light. Ryoko shielded her eyes against the blinding flash. When she opened them again, she was on a beach. The waves gently rolled in from the sea and she could smell the clean, salty air. She slowly got out of the beach chair she was sitting in and looked around. The beach was deserted. The beach stretched for miles in both directions, and behind the sand was a dense forest. There was another beach chair beside hers, both under a wide beach umbrella. Her eyes slowly went from the chairs to the water. There was a man standing with his feet in the water just in front of her, his back turned. Ryoko took a few steps forward; unsure of whether this was actually happening. 

          "Finn?" she asked. The man turned around, and sure enough, there was Finn. "It is you!" Ryoko cried as she fell into his open arms, causing them both to fall back into the wet sand. "I thought I'd never see you again." She sobbed and held onto him, as though the surf would carry him away. The water slashed at her feet. "I thought…I thought you were gone." Finn held her tightly. He tilted her tearstained face to face his and opened his mouth to speak, but Ryoko put her finger on his lips. "You don't even have to say it." She never wanted to let go. Never wanted this moment to end. They remained in each other's arms, both smiling and looking into each other's eyes. Ryoko's eyes still sparkled with tears, but they were tears of sheer joy. Her tears of sorrow had long since been washed away. Finn ran his hand through her soft hair. "I…" She tightened her hold around him. "I went through hell to find you. And now I find myself in heaven." She managed to say, burying her face in his chest. "I chose you over life." They lay together for a long time. Each feeling the other's heart as they beat as one. Around them the surf gently rolled around them, and then pulled back into the vast expanse of ocean. "What'cha being so quiet for?" Ryoko asked, bringing her face level with his. He stared back at her, a content smile on his lips. "Say something." Finn remained silent. Ryoko's vision grew fuzzy and she began to feel light headed. "What's going on?" She asked. Everything around her was blurry, she gentle crashing of waves turned to violent ocean swells. The force of the water ripped the two apart. Ryoko tried desperately to keep her head above water, but the current sucked her down. She kept being pulled down, down, down, into the ocean depths. 

**The Difference Between**

          Finn slowly opened his eyes. The intensity of the bright florescent lights above made him shut them tight again. His head was pounding and he felt weak, as though someone had sucked the strength out of his body. He lay perfectly still and tried to gather his thoughts. There was a pressure against his face. He raised a weak hand to his mouth and touched some foreign object.

          'What is this?" He felt around the edges. It had a cold, hard, plastic feeling to it. 'Strange,' he though and let his hand fall back beside him into the cool, sterile material of the bed he was in. He was breathing heavily, as though the simple act of raising his arm depleted what little energy he had left. His eyes opened slowly once again. Keeping them open just enough so he didn't feel blinded, he looked straight above him. Everything seemed white. He looked to the left and saw something strange. It stood beside his bed, a small line of light bouncing up and down on its screen. He looked to the right and saw the blue and white curtain separating him from whoever might be on the other side. Slowly, he became aware of a noise. A beep sounded constantly every second or so. Shutting his eyes, he tried to block the sound out. He laboriously raised his hands to his head and covered his ears. Tubes protruded from his hands and arms and the sudden motion made his head pound even more. 'Stop it,' Finn's mind said. He threw his hand at the machine in an effort to make it heed his wishes. However, his hand grazed the device and fell almost limp beside him. 

          "Give me 104 of 220," a voice said, drawing Finn out of his uneasy sleep. His eyes remained closed and his body remained still. Even the act of breathing seemed laborious. The pounding in Finn's head grew worse with the added noise of consciousness.

          "I think he's coming to," came another voice as Finn's eyes flickered in attempt to open. 

          "Brain activity?" the first voice asked.  

          "Low, but it's enough."

          "Finn?" There was a sudden cold sensation on his face. "Can you hear me?" 

          "Ry" was the noise that escaped his lips.

          "He's trying to say something," the voice made it feel as though his skull would crack under the intense pressure in his head.

          "Ry…yoko," he managed to say.  

          "Finn, do you know where you are?" a voice Finn recognized as belonging to Inez asked. He tried to raise his hands to his head to block out the noise, but the mere effort in thinking about it made his temples throb even worse. A sharp pain ripped through his head. It was so great that it forced Finn upright, his hands at over his ears. Someone tried to push him back down, but Finn's muscles stiffened and refused to move. 

          "Add the 220," Inez said as two people managed to bring one of his arms down enough to stick the needle into his arm and inject the chemical. Finn felt something wash over him. It made him feel tired, inviting him back to sleep. Slowly, his body returned to the bed. "Saotome?" came Inez's voice again. Finn drifted back into an uneasy sleep. 

          Finn found himself seated at a card table, a line of small dominolike tiles was laid out in front of him. 

          "Aww man, I thought I'd done all this weird stuff," he said to himself, looking around "What is this?" he asked, picking up a tile and looked at it. There was a still image on the underside of it. In his head, he saw Ryoko diving off a cliff into a dark blue cloud. He felt her sorrow when she found herself alone, surrounded by black. Quickly, he put the tile back down the sensation was too unbearable. But something urged him pick it up again. Slowly, he touched the tile, and felt its smoothness. When he looked at the image on the underside, the sensation flooded his mind, but he held on. In his mind, he saw what was happening through Ryoko's eyes. He felt what she felt, saw what she saw. No matter how much he wanted to stop feeling this pain, something encouraged him to hang on. He felt as she touched the "Yes" icon on the window and woke on the beach. The memory ended then and he replaced the tile. It disappeared the moment he let go and reappeared in the centre of the table. He looked around him. There was a single beam of light shining down on the table. Around the table there were no other chairs except for one opposite him, containing one person. "Ryoko?" She picked up a tile and watched one of Finn's memories, more specifically, his nightmare. He saw her watch in horror as the flames engulfed her mind, but she persisted. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she returned the tile to its place on the table, which quickly appeared at the centre of the table. 

          "Finn?" she asked, staring at him. "I just saw it…your dream."

          "What is this place?" Finn asked. "What are you doing here?"

          "I don't know," Ryoko replied. "But I think these…" she trailed off, as she picked up another tile

          "Are memories," Finn concluded, picking up another tile. This time it showed him the time he had seen Ryoko come out of the shower dressed only in a towel, and then her proceeding to send him sailing into a collection of garbage bins at the end of the hall. He laughed at this one, even though it reminded him of the bruises that came as a result of it. He put the tile back and watched as it appeared at the table's centre. Ryoko put hers down, it appeared in the centre. The two lines of tiles seemed to be forming a circle around a small circular design at the table's exact centre. 

          "What are we supposed to do with these?" Ryoko asked.

          "Hmm." Finn picked up another tile and watched its memory. When it placed it back onto the table, it formed another piece to the circle. 

          "I guess the idea is to complete the circle," Ryoko said, picking up a tile. She saw the memory of a young Finn sitting at an IFS consol. There were scientists huddled behind Plexiglas shields. She watched as something went wrong and the room filled with smoke, sparks flying from Finn's hands. No one rushed to help him, they sat behind their shields taking notes. There was a man standing with a woman behind the scientists. The woman was saying something and looking at a clipboard. The smoke began to clear, but Finn was no longer in his seat. He crawled along the floor away from the consol before finally collapsing. "Why do these memories have to be awful? Haven't we suffered enough?" Ryoko said, slamming her fist down onto the table. "Why do we have to relive the hell we've been through?"

          "I've given up on asking questions," Finn replied, picking up another tile. 

          "Doesn't it bother you that…?"

          "Yes," Finn interrupted. "It does bother me. In fact I think it sucks." Ryoko sat back down, her arms crossed. "You can't ask a question without having to look for the answer," He added, examining the tile. The memory he held in his hand was one of Ryoko training on L2. She was doing pushups while the drill sergeant stood with one leg on her back. Sweat dripped from her chin and blood from her mouth as the sergeant struck her across the face with his boot. Finn felt a pain in his mouth. He ran his thumb along the inside of his lip. When he withdrew it, there was a small streak of blood. He put the memory down and watched it join the others. "Besides," He flicked a tile in Ryoko's direction. It bounced off some invisible barrier and landed back in front of Finn. "It's not like we have anything better to do. And I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to miss the real world." Ryoko picked a tile and looked at it.

          "I guess you're right," she said in defeat, and looked at one of his memories. She winced as she felt the pain Finn had endured during a test of the TF system. They continued this way for quite a while, for there were a fair number of tiles in front of them. Each one felt every source of pain the other had felt. Ryoko felt herself be blown up and experimented on through Finn's memories, while he felt himself be kicked and punched through hers. Finally, they both came down to their last tiles. However, when Finn tried to pick it up, it wouldn't budge. It was as though it were fastened to the table. Try as he might, the tile refused to move. Finn drew his hand back and sat staring at the object. 

          "You're not having much luck either?" he asked, noticing Ryoko in a similar state. 

          "It's like this thing's been nailed down," Ryoko said. They sat and thought for a while. They checked under the table, but there was no sign of anything what would hold the tiles down. "I don't get it." Finn tried again to lift the tile and Ryoko did the same. However, this time it did budge. They both let go, surprised at the sudden cooperation. Finn tried again to lift it, but it held fast. 

          "Wait a sec," Finn said, the light bulb glowing. "Try yours." Ryoko pulled at the tile, but it refused to move. Finn placed his hand on the tile. "Now try it."

          "It's not moving, Finn," Ryoko said.

          "Just trust me," he replied. Ryoko shrugged and tried to pick the tile up again. Finn did so as well. He waited for the moment when Ryoko tried to pick hers up. The tile moved a little. Finn let go, and saw Ryoko's tile lock itself to the table. 

          "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ryoko asked. Finn nodded. "Alright, on three." They both placed their hands on their tiles. "Three, two, one, now!" They both pulled the tiles off the table. "Let's see what hell has been planned for us this time," she said. They both looked into the memory, and both drew breath in surprise. It was not one memory, for what they saw kept changing. At first it was an image of Finn and Ryoko after the battle on the moon. Then it showed their first meeting on Dusty. After that they saw themselves in their room in Mr. Noda's ramen shop. The tile finally showed their near kiss earlier when Finn had woken up after having the metal suit removed from his body. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the memories stopped. They both sat there staring at one another. 

          "That wasn't so bad," Finn said, breaking the silence. 

          "No, it wasn't. Wasn't it?" Ryoko smiled at him. They placed the tiles on the table, and they joined the rest, completing the circle. Nothing happened. "For crying out loud." Ryoko leaned over and looked at the emblem at the circle's centre, the barrier between them appeared to have broken. "Wait a sec," She looked at Finn. "Let me see the back of your hand." She took it and examined it and looked back at the emblem. "They're the same."

          "What?" Finn leaped out of his seat and looked at the emblem. Sure enough, it was the same odd design that was on the back of his hand. He touched the emblem and his began to emit a blue glowing light. When he removed it, the light faded away. Ryoko touched it, and her tiles glowed. They both looked at each other. Full understanding flowed between them. Finn placed his hand on the emblem, his tiles lighting up. Ryoko placed her hand over his, and her tiles began to glow. They could see each other's minds, and acted as though they were one person. They concentrated on a single thought. Home.

…To be continued in Act 6

                             **End of Act 5**


	6. Enter the Pilot: Act 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

                             **Act 6**

**Wakey Wakey**

          'I hope I'm back in the real world,' Finn thought as he felt himself wake up. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was the heart monitor and all its companions beeping away. He sat up in his bed and yawned. As he moved, he felt every tube, needle, and electrode attached to him stretch and pull. "Anyone here?" he tried to say, but it came out as a mumble. A sleeping med officer on the other side of the room jerked his head up. He looked at Finn, not quite fully awake. The officer slapped himself, but when he still saw Finn sitting upright staring at him, he quickly opened a vidwindow and said something. Finn couldn't hear it; instead he fell back onto the bed and dozed. However, the pleasure of drifting in and out of a light sleep was soon interrupted when Inez came into the room, with ten or so nurses in tow. She stood beside Finn's bed.

          "Are you sure he was awake?" he heard her ask. The officer answered affirmatively. "Saotome," she poked him with the edge of her pen. "Are you awake?"

          "I might be," Finn mumbled, using his right had to cover his eyes. "Sleepy time."

          "I think you've had enough rest," Inez said, jabbing him in the ribs with her pen. Finn lifted his head. "You have been asleep for two weeks."

          "Just one more week," Finn said, resting his head back on the pillow. Inez forced open one of his eyes and shone a light in it. "Excuse me?"

          "Tell me, do you know where you are?" Inez asked.

          "Sleepy time." Finn tried to push her away.

          "He's not responsive. Prepare for shock treatment."

          "Alright! I'm up! I'm up!" Finn said, bolting upright and rested his back against the bed's headboard. He looked at himself to make sure all arms and legs were still attached. When he saw the arms in his t-shirt and the legs in his sweatpants, he heaved a sigh of relief. 

          "Do you know where you are?" Inez asked.

          "Um…" Finn said. "Let me think…"

          "Su?"

          "Alright. The Nadesico's sickbay. Deck 14, room 22. Mars south pole. That close enough?" Finn said. 

          "Patient exhibits resistance to the doctor's authority," Inez scribbled something down. This back and forth battle of words continued for some time. 

          "Look, I feel fine," Finn said, a strange pop came from his back. "Ok, I feel not all that bad." He tried to raise both his arms to stretch the stiff muscles. His left hand complied with his orders, but the right one did not. He followed his right arm and saw the hand at the end of it enclosed in some kind of metal box. "What the heck is this?" With some effort, he raised the box, which was about the same dimension as a tissue box. His right hand entered the box from one end, and another arm was at the other end. He followed this mysterious arm up to the elbow, the shoulder, "Ryoko?" he asked upon seeing the face of the arm's owner. "Inez? What is this?" Ryoko stirred at the mention of her name. Finn could see that she was wearing similar garb as he was.

          "Ryoko," Inez said, gently shaking her. "Wake up."

          "Tired. Go away., Ryoko said, shifting away from her disturber.

          "Jeez, you could have tried that we me at least," Finn grumbled. 

          "Bring them in," Inez ordered. The doors opened and Hikaru and Izumi came in.

          "Uh oh, Finn said to himself. Hikaru stepped up to Ryoko and took a deep breath.

          "Ryoko! I can't believe you're finally awake! It's been, like, two weeks since we last saw you. Then there was the accident and Inez said it was unlikely that either of you would ever get up!" she said, sounding as though she'd had one too many pixie sticks. Ryoko swung her fist at Hikaru, who jumped back out of the way. 

          "What did I do to deserve this?" she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. Izumi was playing her ukulele and reciting some gibberish. "Alright! I'm awake! What is it already?" Inez opened a vidwindow between the two beds.

          "Three, two, one, kaboom!" the window said. "It's time to get to know Nadesico!" Finn withheld comment and settled for a sweatdrop. 

          "Over two weeks have passed since Lt. Saotome's initial incident with the alien city," Inez explained. "This caused the nanomachines from is IFS to begin to multiply again, becoming entangled…"

          "We know this part already," Ryoko said. "Fast forward. What happened after you knocked me out?"

          "Pilot Subaru," Inez said, speaking to Finn. "volunteered for nanomachine extraction in order to stabilize your system."

          "I know," Finn said, looking at Ryoko. Inez looked at Finn as if to say 'how did you know that?' "Don't ask me how, I just do. Go on."

          "Anyway," The vidwindow showed an overhead view of Inez operating. "The procedure started out fine, with very few complications. However, as we were implanting Ryoko's nanomachines into your nervous system, your nanomachines began to multiply again. From our monitors, your brain was under a great deal of stress, receiving a large amount of information at once, and was unable to regulate vital systems. It was not possible for your brain to process this information fast enough to keep up and you began to malfunction, as indicated by the brainwave monitor here." She pointed to a small subwindow that showed a monitor going haywire. There was little time to come up with a way to help relieve you of such stresses, so we ordered an IFS interface be brought to us. We connected you to Ryoko's mind through your IFS implants and used her mind to process excess information. However, due to this contact, some of Saotome's nanomachine programming made contact with Ryoko's nanomachines, causing hers to begin to multiply as yours were. Fortunately, most of Saotome's nanomachines reprogrammed themselves due to the introduction of normal implants. This information traveled from Saotome back to Ryoko, causing her nanomachines to stop their reproduction."

          "But everything worked, right? I mean, we're both still here," Finn said.

          "You are both alive and, for the most part, physically and mentally intact, yes. But there was one point where we feared neither of you would make it. You were both technically dead for a few minutes when Ryoko's heart stopped," Inez explained.

"Say what?" Ryoko asked.

"You went into cardiac arrest while your minds were connected. But a few jolts of electricity brought you back," Su said.

"So it's all ok then?" Finn asked.

"For the most part, yes. However, there are some negative side effects that resulted from the operation, which brings me to the device connecting your hands." Inez pressed a small switch on the side of the box and it opened. The top half swung open, and they both withdrew their hands. "During the operation, the data that correctly programmes your nanomachines into ceasing reproduction was split when your minds were connected. What the cause of this is, I don't know. The complexity of the human mind still prevents me from answering that question. Half of the information was stored in Saotome's system, and the other half was stored in Ryoko's. We only discovered this when we broke your IFS contact. While you two are connected through the IFS, the data is shared and everything runs smoothly. However, prolonged periods of time without connecting through the IFS will cause your nanomachines to malfunction again."

          "How long is a 'prolonged' period of time?" Ryoko asked.

          "If you're asking how long you can remain separated, the answer is about twenty-four hours, or one day. However, after twenty-four hours have expired, you must connect again for at least four hours. In a way, it recharges your systems. The file is completed and then distributed throughout your nanomachine systems."

          "How long do we have to do that?" Finn asked. Inez heaved a sigh.

          "For the rest of your lives," she said matter-of-factly. "Should you remain separated for more than forty-eight hours, both your nanomachine systems will go unchecked. You'll go insane and…"

          "And we both snuff it," Ryoko concluded.

          "Pretty much. As long as you keep your hands in physical contact inside this box for at least four hours a day, you should be fine," Inez said. "We started out with a normal IFS interface, but it was the size of a TV. Seiya rigged this miniature version up for you. He's currently working on a gel pad that molds to the shape of your hands, for extra comfort."

          "Does it come in any other colours?" Finn joked. "Does it make your teeth whiter?"

          "Anyway, I hope you two don't mind the added bother of maintaining physical contact for four hours a day," Inez said, ignoring Finn's antics.

          "I think we'll manage," Ryoko said. She couldn't help but crack a small smile in Finn's direction.

          "I suppose it could be worse," Finn said, scratching the back of his neck. "We could be two people in one body or something." No one else in the room seemed to find that particularly humorous. "Alright, I'll shut up now." 

          "Can we go now?" Ryoko asked.

"Not just yet," Inez replied. "I want to make sure there are no other effects of the operation. You did, after all, just wake up." A med officer roughly pulled a line out of Ryoko's arm. As a result, he found himself embedded in the wall. 

"I think she's fine," Finn sweatdropped. Ryoko shot a look in his direction, as if to say 'you wanna be next?' Finn avoided her gaze, but couldn't help the suppressed laughs that somehow managed to escape his throat.

"Hey, cool, Ryoko. How did you get your symbol to change like that?" Hikaru asked, grabbing Ryoko's arm and nearly pulling it out of the socket as she raised it closer to her face for a better look. "Hey Izumi, take a look at this. It's so cool!"

"That was caused when the deterioration spread to Ryoko's system," Inez explained. "The reason behind that particular symbol is still a mystery to me though.

"Excuse me," Ryoko wrenched her arm back. "I'm not one of your Geckigengar toys, Hikaru."

"She has light and sound action too!" Finn added. Had Ryoko been able to reach him she would have wiped that smile off his face. But settled for a glare that, amazingly enough, shut him up. Hikaru and Izumi backed off and slipped out of the room.

"If you'll excuse me," Inez got up and left. The med officers dispersed and the two of them were left alone.

"I suppose I shouldn't even try to say that this doesn't mean anything?" Ryoko said.

"Even if you did, I wouldn't believe you." Finn looked at her and smiled. They lay back down in their beds and stared at the buzzing florescent light overhead. Ryoko drifted back into the peaceful sleep she had been enjoying not long before. However, at some point during her sleep, she was jerked back into reality by a sudden noise. She bolted up in her bed and looked around. To her surprised horror, the curtain had been flung back and there stood Akatsuki, holding a smoking gun. She could smell the powder and quickly looked over at Finn, who didn't seem perturbed. She saw a small red stain over his heart, the size of a dime at first, but it steadily grew larger. She sat there, paralysed by what she saw. Everything she had just endured, everything she had worked so hard to gain, was gone in an instant. She leapt out of her bed and went for Akatsuki's throat. It didn't matter that the various lines sticking out of her arms and hands were painfully wretched out. 

Ryoko woke to someone shaking her.

"Let me kill him!" she shouted, thrashing the air.

"Ryoko, calm down," came a familiar voice.

"I'll kill him for what he's done." There was a slight pain in her cheek. 

"Ryoko," she recognized this as Finn's voice. "Calm down. You were only dreaming."

"What?" Her eyes opened.

"You were dreaming. Something pretty awful by the way you were acting," Finn said, sitting on the edge of her bed. 

"Damnit, Saotome," she said, taking in some air. "You got to quit dying on me." She dangled her legs over the side and sat up beside him. Something dripped off the side of her face. Ryoko felt it hit the material of her hospital gown. It was a small bloodstain. She felt her face, where she found a small cut. She touched it and stared at the small streak it left on her fingers. Normally she would have shrugged such an injury off, but she stared, half afraid, half confused, at the blood on her fingers. She thought back to when she was standing on the edge of the cliff, right after she had beaten Akatsuki into the ground. 'I remember tripping,' she thought. 'and I cut myself on a stick. But that wasn't real. It was all in my mind. Wasn't it?'

"You alright?" Finn asked when he saw her hand tremble slightly. He took it and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

"Yeah, I think so," Ryoko replied, wiping the blood away on her sleeve. "Hey, I'm getting kind of bored being stuck in here. Want to take a walk around?"

"Sounds good to me," Finn said. He carefully pulled the only remaining line, the IV drip, out of his hand and took the clip that measured his heart rate off his finger. When the beeping monitor flatlined, the curtain was immediately thrown back by a med officer. 

"What are you two doing?" she asked. "It's two o'clock in the morning."

"We're going out," Ryoko said, pulling out her IV line. "Man the fort until we get back." 

"Um…ok?" she said and stood blinking as Finn and Ryoko slowly but surely left sickbay. The metal floors were cold on their bare feet, but it felt good to be moving again. They moved slowly but surely down the corridor. Ryoko leaned a little on Finn, not quite feeling steady on her legs yet. Finn leaned against the wall, his shoulder sliding across it as they wandered around hand in hand. Finn's feet stopped shuffling outside a certain door. He hit the button and the door slid open. In the deserted halls, the quiet slide of the door seemed loud enough to raise even the deepest of sleepers. They stepped inside and took in the cool air of the observation deck. The room was lit only by starlight and the bright beams of the planet's twin moons. The door clicked shut and they both sat down on the edge of the small, grassy mound that served as a hill. 

"Much better," Ryoko said, stretching out on the cool grass. Even inside the ship, a small whisper of dew had formed on the grass. Finn sat with his back against the artificial tree and stared out at the Martian sky and tried not to let his eyes wander too much over Ryoko's remarkably body.

"I went through…" They both started at the same time. "I went through hell to find you," Ryoko said after a few minutes had passed.

"I didn't have much of a picnic either," Finn replied. "I don't think I would have made it if it wasn't for you."

"I know what you mean," Ryoko said, playing with a blade of grass. "It feels like…I don't know," she tried to find the right words.

"That we've lived each other's lives?" Finn suggested. 

"Yeah. It's like I've seen your life."

"Well, in a matter of speaking, you did," he said, thinking back to the memory tiles. He remembered seeing everything Ryoko had endured in life, but she persisted. The only reason he was alive right now was because of her. It was him that kept her going, and it was her that kept him going, two stars sharing their light with one another. Finn's eyes wandered across Ryoko's moonlit features. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't tear his eyes off of her. "Ryoko, I have a question for you."

"What's that?" Ryoko asked, sitting back up. She already had a general idea of what he was about to say. But she wanted to hear it anyway. Finn took her hand. 

'Come on. Say it!' his mind screamed at him. "Ryoko, I…" 'It's now or never.' "Ryoko, I love you," he said, looking straight into her eyes, which glistened with tears.

"I know. I love you," Ryoko said, smiling back at him, their eyes locked on one another. Their faces began to draw together, and before either of them knew it, they were engaged in a long kiss, each one holding onto the other. "Took you long enough," she smiled when they broke apart. 

"And my question is," he mustered up all his courage, but for some reason couldn't get those words out. A light bulb went off inside his head. 

"Ryoko," He cleared his throat. "Will they bestow the honour upon me of giving my thy hand?" he tried to say that as seriously as possible.

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Ryoko laughed.

"I'm asking you to marry me."

"Hmm, I don't know," Ryoko said with an evil smile on her face. "Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" Finn didn't know whether to laugh or look horrified. "Oh come on, of course I will, idiot!" she said and pinned him down against the grass and kissed him again.

"I have something for you," he said and felt around his neck, but froze when he found nothing. 

"What is it?" Ryoko asked, noticing his face. She got off him and sat there, looking at him going into some state of shock. 

"I was sure…I had it right…" he babbled.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Ryoko said, removing the chain from around her neck. 

"How did you…?" Finn took the chain looked at the ring.

"Now that… is a secret," Ryoko said smiling. Finn pondered that for a second, but pushed it to the back of his head and unclipped the chain, removing the ring. He took Ryoko's hand and gently slid it onto her finger. Ryoko pounced on him again, pinning him against the grass once again. They kissed again, this time not holding back the floodgates of emotion that over took them.

          "It's so beautiful!" the author cried as he wrote.

**One Ring To Find Them…j/k**

          "I have a question for you," Ryoko said as they shuffled their way down the corridor, heading back to sickbay. "How the hell did you find this thing?" she asked, examining the ring closely. She wasn't the type who was particularly interested in jewelry, but she couldn't help but stare at the sparkling gold band that he had placed upon her hand. Finn thought back to their last day on Dusty, when he returned to the ramen shop. 

          "It's just a little something I picked up on Dusty," Finn replied.

          "But how? We didn't even have enough money to rent a spacesuit, let alone this."

          "Well, I didn't buy it, actually…" Finn trailed off.

          "You stole it then?" 

          "Of course not," Finn said. "I made it. It's amazing how many outlet adaptors can blow out on a shuttle. And it's equally amazing how much gold you can scrape off of them."

          "That explains a lot," Ryoko said, resting her head on Finn's slumped shoulder. "How did you get it to sparkle like this though?" she moved the ring in the light, and small pieces of light reflected off the ring like a thousand tiny mirrors.

          "Now that," Finn said in a Xellos voice. "Is a secret," He remembered that part well. 'Amazing what you can do with a sprinkle of industrial diamond dust,' he thought. "I'd ask why you volunteered for the nanomachine operation, but I already have a pretty good idea what you were thinking."

          "Then you wouldn't ask such a stupid question," Ryoko answered. They stopped to rest for a moment by some vending machines. Akito rounded the corner, still in his cooking apron, looking very worn out. "Tenkawa?" Ryoko said when she saw him. "What are you doing out this late?"

          "What the? Ryoko?!" Akito said, waking up when he heard her voice. "You're awake?!" He quickly had his arms around her. "I can't believe you're actually back!"

          "Ahem," Finn cleared his throat. "Hey Tenkawa. 

          "Akito!" a voice from down the corridor called.

          "Uh oh…hide me. Quick!" Akito looked frantically around for a place to hide. Finn stuffed him in the small space between the wall and a pop machine. 

          "Akito? Where are you?" Yurika said, coming into view. "Akito? Oh, why won't you speak to me? Ryoko? Saotome? What are you doing out here?"

          "You try waking from a two week nap and staying still," Finn said. "Question is, what are you doing out here?"

          "Has Akito come by here?" she asked hopefully. 

          "I think I saw him. What do you want him for?" Finn asked. 'Well, I can think of one thing,' he thought. 'It's that time of night…but…'

          "He's been avoiding me the past two weeks. I haven't been able to have a word with him since you came back from the dead, again," Yurika explained. "So I waited outside the kitchen until his practice session was over."

          "Well," Finn leaned against the pop machine. "If Tenkawa really cared about your feelings," He pressed his weight against it; a small noise came from behind the machine. "He would come to you and," He pushed a little more with his back. "you wouldn't have to chase him around."

          "Gerk!" was the noise that came from behind the machine. 

          "What was that?" Yurika asked.

          "Anyway, good luck on your search. Did you check his room? He might be hiding in there. And with the master key…"

          "I can get in no problem!" Yurika chirped and ran off. When she disappeared around a corner, Finn pushed the machine again.

          "Ow!" Akito pushed himself out of the opening. "What'd you do that for?!"

          "Tenkawa, think about it," Ryoko said.

          "But Ryoko, I…" Akito began. "I thought…" Ryoko covered her mouth as she forced a cough. The light reflecting off her ring caught Akito's eye. "What's that?" Finn answered by moving beside Ryoko. For added emphasis, he slipped his arm around her waist. Akito looked at them, puzzled. 

          'Idiot," Finn and Ryoko thought.

          "You mean…you…him…?" Akito gaped. 

          "Uh huh," Ryoko nodded.

          "I don't understand…when did this happen?" Akito asked confused. Finn and Ryoko facefaulted. 

          "Tenkawa, are you blind or something?" Ryoko smacked him when she picked herself up off the floor. 

          "Look, Tenkawa, what about the Captain? I mean, she loves you, to start with," Finn said. "And she's not that bad when it comes to looks either."

          "She's a nutbar!" Akito exclaimed. "She's stalking me. I can't seem to loose her."

          "Maybe the reason she chases you is because you run," Finn suggested and he and Ryoko continued on their way, leaving poor Akito to ponder those words. 

          The next few days passed pretty much as anyone would expect them too. Ryoko moved into Finn's room. Most crewmembers thought it was because of required four hours of IFS lock down, which they decided to log at night while they slept, which seemed reasonable to satisfy everyone. No one, with the exception of Akito, knew the true extent of the relationship between Finn and Ryoko, although, anyone and everyone who knew them suspected it. Not even Hikaru, the ship's gossip, noticed the ring on Ryoko's finger. Izumi acted strangely though, well, stranger than normal for Izumi. She made some rather odd references to 'noises' she heard sometimes at night while passing by their room. The author would like to point out that he wrote that intentionally for the readers to infer what they want from it. Was it some harmless playing around, was it something more? You'll never know for sure. Haha, dance puppets! Dance! * ahem * Sorry, I had one of my spells. Anyway, they both spent most of their days turning their heads and coughing, and other medical tests that seemed utterly ridiculous to the patients. As it turns out, Finn's remarkable ability at bouncing back so soon after being blown up, shot, beaten, what have you, wasn't so much his nanomachines as it was his own stamina. Although, the nanomachines having dulled his pain receptors helped a little. Inez concluded that 'due to the high concentration of nanomachines around all major nerve clusters, the sensation of pain is reduced. The nanomachines also help to repair broken tissues within the body.' It remained a mystery to Inez just how Finn came to be this way. Only Ryoko knew the answer to that question, and she wasn't about to tell anyone.

          "So what are we still doing hanging around here?" Finn asked Yurika in the hallway a few days after the incident with the vending machine. The Nadesico was still on Mars, and so far no residual Jovian or UF forces were found.

          "We're trying to figure out what to do with Fort Mag," Yurika replied. "Even thought almost all Jovian and UF forces were destroyed, we can't be sure that some small band of survivors might try and make a run for the fortress, and we don't want anyone to get a hold of that thing. In the wrong hands it could destroy humanity."

          "Painting a rather bleak picture there, aren't you?" he asked as they walked onto the bridge. "But still, I see your point."

          "I suppose the first thing we should do is try and contact the UF government on Earth and tell them that the war's over. The same goes for whatever government the Jovians have left. Now that the majority of their forces are gone and we have Fort Mag, there's nothing really left to fight over, is there?" Yurika said. "Which brings me to why I asked you here."

          "And what might that be?" Finn asked, taking his seat on the lower bridge. Inez and Akito came, followed by Ryoko a few minutes later. Shiratori was already there.

          "So what's going on here?" Ryoko asked. "Not that I mind having something to do, but what have you got planned?"

          "We're going to try and make contact with the remaining governments on both sides and try and negotiate a peace treaty," Yurika answered. "Shiratori?"

          "Yes," Shiratori said, stepping forward. "As you all know, the artifact containing our phase transition plant was destroyed along with Central Command and Europa, the headquarters of the military government. The municipal governments are all overseen by a separate board, which serves as a liaison between the local and federal governments, but has no military authority. Our objective is to contact this board, which is the highest remaining level of the government, and inform them of what has happened. With any luck, we should be able to work something out. The only problem is that there are several colonies on asteroids that may not be willing to accept peace. But most of these colonies are non-military installations that have little or no forces."

          "How are we going to contact them though?" Akito asked. "With the time delay it would be hours between messages. It could take months just to make the most basic of proposals." Inez stepped forward.

          "I have been working with Commander Shiratori and Seiya on this problem," she said. "Shiratori informed me that there was a form of interstellar communication possible by the boson jumping of light signals. We have done our best to duplicate this technology, but we have yet to test it." A techie rolled in a large boxlike device. It looked like some one had thrown together spare parts from a toaster to an aestivalis in some kind of unfortunate smelting accident. Inez pressed one of the few controls located on a small console and a staticy vidwindow appeared. "Commander Shiratori has programmed the proper coordinate signal for contacting this board." She hit a few more buttons. "I'll let you begin the proceedings," she stepped aside and directed Shiratori in front of the vidwindow. The window began to clear. 

          "Hello? Is anyone there?" he asked. 

          "Big brother? Big brother it's you!" a girl's voice came from the other end. "What happened, big brother? On the news they said Central Command had been destroyed and that the fleet had been blown up."

          "Yukina? What are you doing at the Mediation Board?" Shiratori asked confused. 

          "This isn't the Mediation Board," the girl named Yukina answered. "What happened? They said the Central Command just ceased to exist a few weeks ago. The whole federation is in chaos! It's cool!"

          "No it's not," Shiratori said sternly. "Look, can you give me the MB's number, since I seem to have forgotten it." There were many a sweatdrop at that one. 

          "Not until you tell me what happened," Yukina said, crossing her arms. "Spill it."

          "Maybe I should answer this one," Yurika said, stepping forward.

          "Who are you? Big brother! You're not going around chasing girls now that Central Command is gone are you? What about your honour?"

          "Excuse me!" Yurika said. "I am Captain Yurika Misumaru of the high mobile battleship Nadesico."

          "If you say so." 

          "Ruri, play video records 2095 to 3902," she ordered and subwindow opened in the window containing Yukina's face.  Yukina saw the UF being destroyed and Fort Mag destroying the Jovian forces by Europa.  "What you have just seen is the only visual record of the destruction of United Earth Forces fleet and Jovian forces. We would like to speak to this Mediation Board so we can try and work out a ceasefire."

          "Ok, I'll give you the number," Yukina disappeared for a moment.

          "Thank God," Shiratori said under his breath. "Usually she isn't this cooperative."

          "Alright, I've got the book here. Let's see," Yukina said, flipping pages. "Mars Rice, Meat Ball Factory, Meteor Hut. Whoops too far. Here we are. Mediation Board. Their number is 13895-29572. Are you dialing stellar distance?"

          "We're on Mars. Better give us the code," Shiratori answered.

          "It's A3TFTM," Yukina said, closing the giant book. "Is that all?"

          "Yes, that's all for now. Thanks Yukina," Shiratori said.

          "Oh wait, the MB is making a statement. I'll move the TV over," she said and wheeled a small TV set in front of the window. 

          "Fellow citizens!" an elderly man said. "The loss of Central Command and the installation on Europa has dealt a serious blow to our objective of conquering the Earth and ending their oppressive reign of tyranny! But out of the old shall come the new! The death of Central Command and the Superior Male Forces has given birth to Jovian Space Division Forces. All of our remaining Superior Male Forces are being reequipped with the latest version of technology we developed before the destruction of the Artifact. With these new weapons, we shall surely follow the path to glory!" The TV flipped to JNN, where a reporter standing outside a building by a huge crowed had gathered and were cheering on this announcement.

          "Isn't it cool, Big Brother?" Yukina asked.

          "No it's not cool," Shiratori said seriously. "I have to go now." He turned off the device. 

          "If that don't take the chrome plated cookie," Finn was the first one to speak. "You mean to tell me that there're still more of these fruitloops running around?"

          "It would appear that's the case," Shiratori said, heaving a sigh. 

          "I don't suppose we could persuade you to pilot Fort Mag again, could we?" Yurika suggested humorously, trying to lighten the mood. "Sorry," She said, noticing Finn's scowl. "But we're down three pilots. You don't have a ship to pilot, Saotome, and you and Ryoko can't pilot aestivalis units with your new implants." Inez nodded. "And we can't use Akatsuki, for obvious reasons. So that leaves us with only Akito, Hikaru, and Izumi. There's no way the Nadesico can hold back an entire army by itself."

          "And the UF is gone," Ruri added.

          "You're forgetting just one little thing," Finn said, before fingers began to point in his direction. "Without any chulips, they can't boson jump forces here. And their personal jump systems can only travel short distances, right?" Shiratori nodded. "Then it'll take almost a year for them to even get here. And they still have amassed all their forces yet. I'd give us close to a year and a half to prepare. That is, if we have to. Do you think a negotiated peace is still possible, Captain?"

          "I don't know," Yurika replied. "I'd like to give it a try before we try and raise another army. We'd just be going around in a circle, right back where we started. But you're right. We do have some time to think about this. The first thing we should try is to contact these Division forces and see if we can talk them out of it."

          "I'd avoid mentioning the fact that the UF is gone," Ryoko said. "If they know we're defenseless, that might just make them more eager to finish us off."

          "Right. Shiratori, why don' you give it a shot?" Yurika said, stepping away from the device. Shiratori stepped up and punched in the commands. The vidwindow flickered and began to clear. 

          "Hello? You've reached Division headquarters," someone answered.

          "I need to speak to the chairman of the former MB," Shiratori said.

          "Who is calling?"

          "Commander Shiratori of the Superior Male Forces," he answered. The window was silent for a moment.

          "I'll put you right through." 

          "Hello? Tatsuhiro Kanzaka here. Who's this?" the elderly man that they had seen on TV asked. "I'm a busy man, I don't have all day."

          "Excuse me for calling on such short notice," Shiratori said. "But this is urgent."

          "Tsukomo? Is that you?"

          "Yes, it's me," Shiratori replied. 

          "It's been a while, how are you doing? I would have thought you'd have been killed on Mars with the rest of the fleet," Kanzaka said.

          "I escaped before it happened. But that's another story. Listen, I need to talk to you. This isn't a call to catch up on old times," Shiratori said.

          "What is it?"

          "I am currently on an Earth vessel, the Nadesico. They took me along with them when the SMF betrayed me. But anyway, the captain of this ship would like to try and avoid a second wind in this war. She wants to negotiate a ceasefire." 

          "Let me speak to him," Kanzaka said, Yurika stepped forward. "I want to speak to the Captain, not his secretary."

          "Sir, I _am_ the captain," Yurika said.

          "A woman, captain of a battleship? How comical," Kazaka laughed. "So what can I do for you, my dear?"

          "This happens to be a very serious matter. I wish to negotiate a ceasefire. I do not want another war that will cost even more people, civilians and soldiers alike, their lives," Yurika said simply. 

          "Is your ship powered by a phase transition power core?" Kazaka asked, having appeared to ignore Yurika's proposal. 

          "Yes, why do you ask?" Yurika asked.

          "Hmm, I find your proposal most interesting. I should like a meeting with you, in person," Kazaka said. "What section are you in?"

          "The Nadesico is on Mars, sir," Shiratori said. "A meeting in person would take months of traveling on our part."

          "We could try boson jumping the ship," Inez suggested. Finn made the 'shh-don't-say-anything' motion.' "We were able to jump the ship before, there's no reason why we…" she stopped when Finn and Ryoko tackled and gagged her.

          "Pay no attention to that," Yurika said, blocking Kazaka's view.

          "Your ship has leap capabilities too? Fantastic. Shiratori, you can give them the coordinates, can't you?" Kazaka asked. "Then it's settled. You can leap the Division's headquarters. I shall expect you in two weeks time. That should be sufficient time to prepare a leap field."

          "We can be there…" Inez piped up again, but Ryoko shut her up by stuffing corner of her lab coat in her mouth.

          "Two weeks it is," Yurika said. 

          "Then it's agreed. Now if you'll excuse me." The window turned to static. 

          "Nice going," Ryoko said as she and Finn released her from their kung fu grip. "Now we actually have to go there."

          "I was hoping to conduct these negotiations over the transmitter," Yurika said. "I don't have a very good feeling about all this."

          "Yeah, that guy's some blood sucking reptile if you ask me," Akito said. "And how are we supposed to jump without Saotome? I thought he needed to be plugged into the computer or something for it to work."

          "I've already taken that into consideration," Inez said. "By modifying the remains of his old suit, and having him and Ryoko connected at the same time, we can create a jump field stable enough boson jump."

          "Hurray for us," Finn said sarcastically. "But you're forgetting just one little thing."

          "And that would be?" Inez asked.

          "What if they go ape slag on us? We'd get blown into a large collection of metallic crumbs," Finn answered. 

          "Is there any way for Ryoko or Saotome to pilot a normal aestevalis?" Yurika asked.

          "They can only pilot an aestivalis for a very short time, and with limited maneuverability," Inez answered. "We've been working on something what would allow them to pilot one, but so far we've had no success. Due to their nanomachine structure, the energy that would flow from the IFS into their bodies would cause them to overheat if used for an extended period of time." 

          "How long are we talking?" Finn asked.

          "I'd give you both about ten minutes." Finn thought about this for a few minutes. 

          "I have a suggestion," he said. "The TFs were made on L2 in a hidden complex. It's possible that there may be some other prototypes laying around." Everyone looked at him. "It's worth a shot."

          "But we only have two weeks," Akito protested. "It would take us at least a week to even get to L2. That's half our time up right there. And we don't even know if there'll be anything."

          "All flowers and sunshine aren't we?" Ryoko said sarcastically. 

          "We could try a short distance boson jump," Inez suggested. "L2 is close enough that we wouldn't need that strong a jump field."

          "Before we try anything," Finn said. "I think we have one other thing to deal with first," Finn motioned with his thumb towards Fort Mag. "We don't want to leave that thing just laying around, do we?"

          "That's a good point," Yurika said. "But what are we going to do with it? I take it there's no way for you to control that thing anymore. What if we were to somehow able to boson jump it into space and let it drift out into deep space? No one would ever find it if we were to leave it on Pluto or something."

          "Someone would find it eventually, and this whole war would just begin again. It's only delaying the inevitable," Finn said. "But we can't destroy it either." Chibi Finn sat on a stump and thought. A light bulb went off overhead. "You said the Fortress was found underground at the pole, beneath the bedrock?" Inez nodded. "Than that means it must have been buried there intentionally. There's no way something of that size could just get covered over with sediment. Someone was able to move it underground."

          "What are you saying?" Yurika asked. "What we bury that thing?"

          "Exactly," Finn said. "It must have something on it that allows it to burrow itself under the surface. Only problem is how do we do it?"

          "All our scans have detected no signs of a manual control consol," Inez said. "The only way we know how to control it is by wiring you into the interface."

          "What about if we did that?" Finn asked. Everyone looked at him. "I'm not talking like before. But just a temporary connection that can be severed at any time, just enough to programme the commands into it." 

          "It is an idea with some merit to it," Inez said. "We still have the gloves from your suit intact. I suppose it's possible. However, you can only do this if you are connected to Ryoko at the same time. You will need the file link."

          "That alright with you?" Finn asked Ryoko, who nodded her reply. "Great. I'll need to go with out in an aestivalis with someone to make a survey, find out exactly what needs to be done. Have you made any excursions into the fortress already?"

          "No, we moved the ship out of the hangar when we got you back. We thought it best to not touch anything," Yurika replied. "Akito, I want you to take Saotome into the fortress in your aestivalis. Hikaru and Izumi will back you up. Jun will stay behind as a backup pilot should we need him."

**I Enter These Hallowed Halls…**

          "Crikey," Finn said when he and Akito reached the inside of the hangar. The robot he had been attached to was still laying on the floor in a heap. "I don't remember this part."

          "You mean where you burst through the wall and ran out here?" Akito asked. 

          "Yeah. I don't remember anything after the Jovians were destroyed, and even that part's shady," Finn said grimly. Akito flew the air frame further into the construct and through the hole Finn had made. He turned on his searchlights, Hikaru and Izumi following not far behind. 

          "This place is creepy," Hikaru said.

          "I feel right at home," Izumi snorted. 

          "Knock it off, you two," Akito said, and they began to goosestep behind him. "Ok, we're here." They stopped in front of the spot where Finn had ripped his way out. Finn took over control of the aesti. It felt strange to him, having never piloted this type of unit before. Inside was a mess of broken bits of metal and wires that had been ripped from the floor and walls. 

          "It looks as though this is part of some other component," he said, sifting through the wires. "Like something jumped out of this thing."

          "That's probably what that other robot in the hangar was," Akito said.

          "Hikaru, Izumi. Can you go get that thing and bring it here?" Finn asked/ordered. They took off and a returned a few minutes later, carrying the limp robot between them. Finn examined the robot closely. Pieces of split wires and computer ports could be seen up and down the mechanism. "I'm going out on a limb here, but I think this is the plug. You stick that robot into the room there, plug him into system via those wires and exposed adaptors, and you control him." He held up a long strand of broken wires that extended from the neck. "Through the head." He relinquished the controls back to Akito. "Nadesico," he said, opening a vidwindow. "I've seen everything I need to. I think we can pull this off. But only if the technical crew is willing to pull an all nighter or two." One could have said that they heard a collective groan. "I think you can bring the Nadesico inside and ferry the crew using the aestivalis transports." He opened the channel even further, so everyone on the Nadesico could see him. "Put a pot on boys, we've got work to do." 

The three aestivalis' stood inside the fort's massive hangar and watched the Nadesico lift off and head their way. "The first order of business is to repair the broken wires and fit them to be reconnected. I hope this works." 

          The following twenty-four hours were spent simply examining what had to be done. All the wiring on the robot had to be figured out and matched to its mate inside the consol.

          "Saotome," a techie said. "We've got some internal problems. We need a wall taken out." 

          "Alright, I'm on my way." He opened up a vidwindow. "Yo, Tenkawa. We've got work to do." Akito met him in the Nadesico's hangar and they headed out. A line of cables had been strung between the port room and the robot, which was stored just outside the Nadesico. "What's the problem?" Finn asked when he and Akito arrived on the scene. 

          "We need to get inside this room," the techie said. "There's a damaged cable, but it's been broken from the other side."

          "Akito, will you do the honours?" Finn motioned to the adjacent wall. Akito stepped up to it.

          "Here goes," He drew his fist back. "Take this!" There was a loud crunch as the sound of twisting metal reverberated throughout the corridor. Akito opened his eyes and gaped in amazement. There was hardly a dent. 

          "Let me try," Finn placed his hand on the IFS and reset his footing. He drew his left fist back and slammed it into the wall, and followed by doing the same with his right. Both fists went clean through the wall. Finn then made the robot back up and slowly tore the wall clean off its bolts.

          "I see…" Akito sweatdropped. Finn then tried to throw the useless sheet of metal in his hands away down the corridor, but as he did so, his fists did not retract through the holes they had made, and the aestivalis crashed to the floor into the pile of scrap.

          "Not one of my more glamorous moments," Finn weezed, having been tossed upside down inside the cockpit. Akito lost his hold on his seat and crashed into him. Everyone sweatdropped. 

          "That'll do, thanks," the techie said, and crewmembers began to enter the room and string up lights. 

          Once they knew which wires connected where, the rest of that part was easy, although somewhat monotonous. They spent hour after hour reconnecting wire after wire. However, Finn would have gladly taken that job over the one he had to do next.

          "Gargh!" he said to himself, examining the remains of his piloting suit under a large magnifying glass. He held a small pair of electrical tweezers in one hand and a miniature-welding device in the other. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he said to the glove he was examining. "How's it coming on your end, Inez?" he asked across the table to Inez, surprise surprise, who was working on the left glove. 

          "I'm almost done," she answered. Finn facefaulted. 

          "Done?! I've only connected three parts." He picked up his tools and stared at the tiny sections he had to reconnect. There were transistors, physical damage to the structure, and biosensors that needed to be reconnected. As well as tiny damaged conduction fibers that linked the pilot's body to the interface. "Let me see that." He wheeled his stool over to the other side of the table and looked at Inez's work. Every fiber, every transistor, every little thing that had been broken on the glove was perfectly in place, as though it were brand spanking new. A little black rain cloud settled over Finn's head. Small waterfalls fell from his eyes. However, before he could do anything else a bolt of lightening struck him. He lay on the floor sizzled. 

          Finally, after two days of around the clock continuous labour, everything was ready. Anyone onboard the Nadesico with any electrical or mechanical knowledge hadn't slept more than an hour, if at all. Everyone was living off instant noodles, candy bars, and coffee. 

          "Alright! I give! I give! I'll put coffee in the fic if you like it so much," the author said. "We now return to our regularly scheduled programme." 

          "Sleepy," Finn mumbled as he stood at by the exposed neck of the robot. An IFS had been wired into it to serve as the head, since the suit could not be fully recovered. Only the gloves had been repaired into somewhat working condition. 

          "Snap out of it," Ryoko gave him a nudge in the ribs. 

          "Five more minutes," Finn said, sleepily. Even though he was standing, his head was bent to one side and his eyes were almost completely shut. 

          "I said snap out of it." Ryoko slapped him across the face with her left hand, which had one of the metal gloves on it. A slight ringing noise could be heard when it made contact with Finn's face. 

          "Alright, I'm up, I'm up." Finn said. His stomach growled.

          "For two days did you, or did you not deprive me of vital nutrients?" it said.

          "Hey, I was…" Finn began.

          "Did you or did you not?!" his stomach said. "Answer the question!"

          "Alright, fine. Yes, you have been ill nourished." 

          "The jury finds you guilty of reckless endangerment of vital organs by a vote of 99 brain cells to 1. Your sentence, a full hour of painful stomach cramps," his stomach said. Finn found himself in a painful state consciousness. Anyway…

           "We're ready to start," Inez said from the lab on the Nadesico. The ship had been moved outside, all connections were fed through a laser link. A "safety precaution', as Inez put it. Only Finn and Ryoko stood inside the fortress hangar, and were the only ones in any immediate danger. "Connect yourselves to the interface." Finn plugged his right hand into the IFS, while Ryoko did the same, only with her right. "Remember, you two have to be in perfect sync to do this. Focus only on the fortress sinking into the ground. Any noise in your nervous system could cause a malfunction. You could both be overloaded with feedback, or you could trigger the attack sequence."

          "You sure know how to paint a pretty picture," Finn said. "Ok, we start on three." He looked at Ryoko, who nodded. "Three, two, one, now." He closed his eyes and forced his mind to picture the fortress sinking into the ground. When the fortress had returned to Mars, it landed several hundred kilometers away from the ruins, in a small valley covered with ice and snow. 

          "Try and picture Calgary in winter and you'll get the idea," the author said. 

          "Ryoko, you have noise. Refocus your thoughts on the task at hand," Inez said, monitoring her brain activity. Ryoko concentrated and slowly they felt the fortress begin to move. From Inez's view, it looked like it was sinking into a pit of stones and snow. A small indicator told her how long the command was taking to process. "Alright, you can stop now," she said when the light blinked that the command had been accepted. "The command's been sent."

          "I just have one question," Finn said, holding onto a side rail. Inside the shaking was incredible. "Did you think of a way for us to get out of here before this thing disappears completely? I thought an aestivalis was supposed to in here to pick us up!"

          "I'll get back to you on that," Inez closed the window.

          "Why don't I like the way that sounded?" Finn asked. The fortress tilted slightly, causing Finn and Ryoko to loose their footing and slide across the floor towards the hangar's opening. The energy screen flickered as rocks and snow slid up along the outside. 

          "I don't see a way in!" Hikaru said from her air frame. "The opening's been blocked." The fortress slowly sunk out of sight and a few minutes later, when the dust had settled, there was no trace of it at all. 

          "Ryoko, Lt. Saotome! Do you copy?" Megumi asked from her com station. "Why do I even bother?" she asked herself. "It's not like he ever responds to me."

          "I cannot detect their communication signal," Ruri said. "The city is too far underground for a signal to reach them."

          "Don't worry," Yurika said. "They've been in worse."

          "I hope that's not the only thing you're going on right now," Ruri said, Minato and Megumi sweatdropped. 

          "Gotcha!" Finn said grasping Ryoko's arm as she slid by him. His foot had been snagged in a small loop built into the floor, and he was hanging by his boots. The room was now at a sharp angle and pieces from the control consol rained down on them. "I should be able to hold on a while longer."

          "Gee, that's comforting," Ryoko said, hanging onto Finn's arm. She looked around the floor for anything she might be able to hang on to. Her eyes found themselves on the loop sticking out of the floor that had Finn's boot. There was a small series of these loops running up and down the hangar. She reached for the one closest to her but fell short. She tried swinging, but stopped when Finn's boot slipped a little. 

          "I suppose this isn't the ideal time to complain," Finn said, hanging upside down. 

          "No, that wouldn't help," Ryoko said as she began to climb up Finn's arm. "Don't get any ideas," She added when she grabbed hold of his belt to pull herself further up. Hanging onto Finn's ankles, she tried to grab one of the loops. However, just as she touched one with the tips of her fingers, the fortress shook again, dislodging Finn's foot from the loop. They both slid down the floor, but it felt more like a freefall. Finn, the glove still on his hand, tried to grab onto anything that might slow their decent, but his metal fingers sent sparks flying into the air as they skidded against the floor. Suddenly everything stopped. It felt like being stopped by running into a moving cement mixer, but everything was more or less quiet. Only a few pieces fell from above. However, Finn felt trapped. It was dark, and he couldn't breath. Tiny beadlike objects filled his mouth as he tried to take a breath. It was as though he were buried in an avalanche of m&ms or something. He tried to move, but his limbs could hardly carry out the instructions, but he nonetheless crawled up, or at least what he thought was up. 

          "Air!" he cried as his head burst from the avalanche debris. 

          "So there you are," Ryoko said, sitting a few feet away, buried up to her waist. "So which life are you on now?"

          "It's not that…" he fell short as something bounced off his head and landed beside him. It took a moment for the swirls to disappear from his eyes and he regained his senses. Picking up the object that had struck him, he made an important discovery. "I didn't know these things had real leather on them," he said, examining the boot. Ryoko sweatdropped. 

          "Anyway," she said, pulling herself out of whatever she was buried in. "Where are we?"

          "I don't know," Finn said, putting his boot back on. 

          "What are these things anyway?" Ryoko asked, picking up a piece of what they had been buried in. Finn picked one up and looked at it. It looked liked an oversized blue grape. 

          "This," Finn said, "looks like a CC."

          "You mean those things they launched when the Nadesico jumped to Mars?" Ryoko asked.

          "Yep, and lots of them." He pulled himself out of the CCs. "But they look different. Like they're not the same ones they used." He stuffed a handful into his pocket. "At least the lights are still on. Let's take a look around." It felt as though the entire fortress had been turned upside down and shaken. 

          "How the hell did anyone make this thing? Even in an aesti it looks huge," Ryoko said as the walked down one of the massive passageways.

          "Yeah, it does make you feel kind of insignificant," It was eerily familiar to Finn, even though he was sure this was his first time wandering through these halls. The lights that lit the place were not the same ones strung up by crewmen. It was as though the halls themselves emitted light. They walked for an hour or two, going in one straight line so as not to get lost. There were other hallways leading in other directions. At one of these passages Finn came to a halt and stared down the adjacent hall.

          "Why'd you stop?" Ryoko asked.

          "I don't know," Finn replied. "It's like…there's something down there." Ryoko drew her gun. "Not _that_ way. It feels like something's pulling me in that direction."

          "Now you're just freaking me out,"

          "In any case, we might as well take a look," He put one of the CCs had had in his pocket in the middle of the floor. "A marker, so we know when to make the turn to go back." And they began down this new passageway. It was slightly narrower than the last, but to them it still felt like walking down a deserted four-lane highway. Their feet made slight tapping noises along the cool, metallic floor as they went. They continued down the corridor for a while before coming to a stop at what they presumed to be some kind of door. 

          "I take it you're getting some kind of freaky vibe from the other side of this panel," Ryoko said. 

          "Something like that," Finn said, stepping closer to the panel. This corridor was somewhat darker than the last, making it a little more difficult to see clearly. The panel was huge, about the same size as the one Finn had ripped off the fort's interior a few days earlier. Feeling along the panel, he came across a kind of indent in the wall that felt different. "I think I found something. You wouldn't happen to have a flashlight on you or something?" Ryoko shook her head, not that Finn really expected her to have a light-producing object on her person. "Oh well, worth a shot." He sat down and thought and the faint sound of rusty gears turning could be heard. 

          "Here, I've got an idea," Ryoko said, stepping up to the indent in the panel. She opened a staticy vidwindow from her communicator. The light generated produced a small shine of light, which she held up to the panel. There, stuck in side, was a keypad. 

          "What the?" Finn asked, looking at the keys. It was a standard 0-10 pad, like you'd find at a bank machine. "This can't be from the Nadesico," he said. "Could it?" Ryoko touched it and the small screen lit up, but they couldn't read what it said. "It must be some old, archaic language that no one uses anymore."

          "Bonjour," the screen read.  

          "Let's see here," Finn punched in a few random numbers. The screen blinked and displayed some gibberish. He hit a few more buttons and a small red light blinked. Ryoko could make out some word that looked like 'discipline' as a small bolt of electricity shocked Finn, who fell over, smoke rising from his body.

          "You ok?" Ryoko asked, not particularly concerned about anything. Finn made some kind of wheeze, which Ryoko took to be an affirmation. Now it was Ryoko's turn, she looked at the screen and thought for a moment. Then she brought her gloved fist back and forced it through the screen and pulled a mass of wiring out of the wall. A few sparks flew, but nothing major. She began to sift through them, pulling some apart and splicing them together. Finn regained consciousness a few seconds later, just in time to see a small section of the panel slide away, revealing a small opening. 

           "What do we have here?" he asked as he took a cautious step inside. There were monitors set into the far left corner of the room, with a large computer terminal beneath them. "Interesting." As he stepped in, light filled the room as the monitors flickered to life. 

          "You said the aliens supposedly built this thing, right?" Ryoko said. "But this…kinda blows that theory out of the water."

          "Maybe not. I remember reading somewhere that other life in the universe would be similar in shape to humans for some odd reason," Finn said. Ryoko moved over to the computer terminal.

          "And how do you explain this?" She held up a CDlike object. 

          "I suppose coincidence would be too much of a stretch," he said, examining one of the many CDs that lay on top of the keyboard. Ryoko found a small slot and pushed her CD into it. The centre monitor went staticy for a moment and then cleared. It showed a picture of Mars from space. The camera zoomed closer in on what looked like some kind of dome; underwhich lay a small cluster of buildings. A minimap appeared in the corner and showed a countdown. It started at two minutes. An object came flying past the satellite camera and began to enter the atmosphere, glowing with heat as it fell. It looked like some kind of canister, like something you'd see from an early space station. Soon after they lost sight of the canister, the countdown reached zero. A bright flash of light blinded them both for a moment. When the spots in front of their eyes cleared, they saw a large cloud of dust where the domed city had been, a cloud rising from its centre. Four more monitors came to life and displayed similar images. 

          "What is this?" Ryoko asked, staring at the screens.

          "It's nothing good, I can tell you that. Remember when we were on Dusty and looked at that history book? Remember when they talked about how the UF dropped nukes on their Mars colony?" Finn said.

          "Then this must be footage shot by an orbiting satellite," Ryoko concluded. "It could have been one of the ones they launched before the Earth colonists arrived on Mars. One of the survey satellites."

          "Could be, but then why would it show a timer counting down if it were just there to map the surface?"

          "A UF satellite then?" Ryoko suggested. 

          "I don't know. They probably would have had something watching to make sure the nukes hit, but I doubt they'd keep any evidence. If that ever got out it'd probably spark a revolution or something. If I were the UF, I'd have destroyed all the evidence." 

          "Getting a little overly analytical, aren't we?" 

          "Think about it though. I doubt they'd want any evidence that they even knew there were people on Mars. Problem is if it wasn't the UF, then who was it?" The disk ejected. Finn slipped another one. The screen turned slightly grainy. There was someone on the other end of the grainy screen and small bits of garbled audio came through, but it wasn't enough to understand what they were talking about. 

          Finally, the screen cleared for a few seconds and the audio came through unimpeded.

          "Data tracks 20051, we're under heavy fire. The Suc…" the image was lost and the audio turned to static.

          "Very educational," Finn said, tucking several disks into his breast pocket. "But still…this doesn't add up. I mean, the Jovians had a Mars colony about ninety years ago. How could someone have been on Mars before that let alone build this thing? Unless…" He kneeled on the floor and pulled apart the bottom of the computer consol. He followed the trail of wiring until it entered the wall. "Look at this," he said, halfway under the console. Ryoko ducked her head under and pushed her way to the back, where Finn held something. "See this? This is a standard wire, as we know it. But if you look over here," He held up an adaptor he had pulled from the wall. "It's different."

          "Like someone's modified it to fit existing technology?" Ryoko asked.

          "Yeah."

          "So that means that the city itself existed before human beings got to Mars. People have adapted our technology to fit with the alien stuff." Ryoko examined the adaptor. The wires entered on one end, but the other end was very odd. It was triangular in shape, and seemed to have small laser lenses attached to the three points. It wasn't until then that they realized the close proximity to each other they found themselves in. However, before either of them could get any ideas, the fortress shuddered again and all the lights went out. 

          "Ow!" Finn banged his head trying to pull himself out from under the desk. "Here we go," he said as he opened a vidwindow for light. He made his way to the door and tried the keypad. It was dead. Ryoko tried to force it open, but it wouldn't budge. Finn, remembering Ryoko's earlier success, ripped the flimsy keypad from the wall. However, this time, no sparks flew from the sudden disjointing of electrical circuits. He tried reconnecting this and that, but everything was dead. Finally, he settled for kicking the door in frustration, but to no avail. 

          "Let me guess, we're stuck," Ryoko said pulling at the door again. Finn added his strength to the possibility of escape by force, but it remained shut. When it was painfully clear that they weren't getting out via the door, Finn began searching the bare steel walls for an escape route. A ventalator shaft, a service tunnel, anything would do, just so long as it would get them out of there. However, he had no success and sat down with his back against the wall adjacent to the door. Ryoko sat down beside him. "No luck?" Finn remained silent.

          "The communicator will run out of power soon," Finn said after a while, staring at the static. As if on queue, the window died. Like the aestivalis, the communicators were powered by the gravitron energy feed, and only had a small battery to live off if the crewmember were away from the ship. 

It was difficult to tell how much time had passed. It could have been a few seconds, a few minutes, even an hour or two. The silence was so intense that it was deafening. There wasn't even the groan of settling steel. The only sound was their slow breathing. "We're stuck in here."

          "And no way out," Ryoko added, heaving a sigh. "I never thought I'd go this way. I always thought it'd be out on the battlefield. At least that way it would have been for a cause, even if it wasn't just."

          "Yeah, life's a bitch that way," Finn said. 

          "How long do you give before we starve to death?" Ryoko asked, her breathing was slightly on the heavy side.

          "There's no way we'll starve to death," Finn said confidently. "The air will give out long before we even have a chance to starve," he added, realizing his own heavy breathing. "I'd give us a few hours or so. At least it won't be painful. Kind of like going to sleep," Finn chuckled. 

"What's so funny?"

          "Look at us. Two 'soldiers' thinking about how they're going to die. I know it wouldn't change our situation, but we're probably over doing the drama a bit. A little gloomy, don't you think?" he said, a bead of sweat rolled down his face and dripped off of his chin. He could hear Ryoko pulling off the top to her uniform, and did the same, considering it was getting hot. He felt Ryoko feel along the floor for him. When she at last touched him, she settled in beside him, resting her head against his shoulder. "I don't care how corny this sounds. Even if these are our last moments, I'm glad we get to spend them together." Gently, he ran the tips of his fingers down her face, relishing the feeling of her skin. Clearly in his mind's eye, he could see her. Her face, her hair, the smooth curves of her body, and he kissed her again, this time with passion he had held back until now. Their hearts raced and their breathing grew heavier. Finn ran his fingers through her hair and down her bare back. Finn kissed down Ryoko's neck and across the top of her partially exposed chest. This extracted a faint gasp from Ryoko's lips. She ran her hands down Finn's chest. However, as she stopped, there was a slight clang on the floor. Normally they would have disregarded such an insignificant noise. However, due to the intense silence that had engulfed them, the sound was distinctly heard, even through their passion. 

          "What was that?" Ryoko asked, pulling away slightly. Finn, having heard the noise as well, felt around the floor. His hands came to rest on a small object around his pocket. It was small, round in shape, and very smooth, like a small piece of shaped glass. "What is it?"

          "Ryoko…" Finn said, clutching the object in his hand. "You've done it. You've really done it."

          "Done what? What are you talking about?" 

          "It's a CC. I…stuffed a bunch in my pocket earlier," he said. "Oh happy day!" By now the air was very hot and almost completely spent. Every breath they took was like sucking in steam. It burned their lungs. "We can…use it to…boson jump…out of here."

          "That's…great," she panted. Finn clutched the CC in one hand and Ryoko's hand in the other. It was becoming very difficult to breath now. "But we…don't have any of the stuff."

          "I think it's worth a shot. Picture the Nadesico," he said and they both shut their eyes. The current of energy could be seen running up and down their bodies, outlining their nanomachine clusters. It was as though someone had painted sparkling silver lines on them. Finn's mind was fuzzy due to lack of oxygen, and he forced himself to ignore the searing pain in his lungs and the feeling of exhaustion that had crept up on him. There was a split second where they could clearly picture the Nadesico's bridge. During this second, the room grew from being hot and spent to be cool and clean. Finn opened his eyes. He was on the lower bridge of the Nadesico, still clinging onto Ryoko, and her onto him. Everyone blinked at them.

          "Sex fiends," Megumi said. Finn ignored the comment and took in as much air as he possibly could. He fell onto his back heaving and laughing.

          "It worked!" he laughed. "I can't believe that actually worked!"

          "Ahem," Yurika cleared her throat. "Not that it's my business, but just what was going on down there?" she asked, noticing their state of undress.

**The Truth Who The Eyes Met Before**

          Word spread quickly through the Nadesico. Wherever Finn and Ryoko went, people would always be watching them out of the corner of their eyes. If Ryoko didn't have her reputation as ass kicker, they probably would have said something. But for the most part, they kept their distance and their comments to themselves.

          "You two seem to be getting a-head alright," Izumi said and began to laugh her insane little laugh. She found herself stuffed into a recycling bin for that one. Even the Captain seemed to tiptoe around them. As they walked onto the bridge, everyone stopped their conversations and remained silent. Finn walked up to the panel what contained Ruri's control consol. He quickly brought his hand down hard against the side of it, the noise made everyone jump.

          "It seems to me," he said, taking a place in the centre of the lower bridge. "That there are rumours and talk going on behind our backs. And I request that this cease effective immediately."

          "In other words, knock it off," Ryoko said standing beside him.

          "But what's been going on then?" Megumi asked, looking up from her vanity magazine. Finn noticed the title of the article she was reading. It was called "How to make her man yours". He mentally sweatdropped. 'Poor Tenkawa," he thought.

          "That's really none of your business," Finn said simply in a way one might say what the weather was like. From her seat, Hikaru opened a vidwindow that showed the video record of when they boson jumped back to the ship. 

          "So what are we to make of this?" she asked, giggling slightly. 

          "Well, if you want to know the truth," Finn said explanatorily. "You try being locked in a sealed airtight room for a few hours and see how the temperature rises. You people don't seem to realize the severity of that situation. Inez, help me out here."

          "You two did not recover your breath for some time after your return," Inez said. "And physical activity alone could not have put you in that state of oxygen deprivation."

          "Helpful as always," Finn said sarcastically. 

          "Unless you were both really enjoying yourselves," Hikaru said giggling. Ryoko gave her a swift kick to the shins for that one. "Give it up you guys, everyone knows about you." They both turned an appropriate shade of red at this remark.

          "Anyway," Yurika said, breaking up the fight. "I did not ask you to come here just to sort this out." A space colony appeared on screen. "This is our destination. It would take about a week to reach by normal methods, but Inez has suggested that boson jumping there would be better."

          "That's correct. As you know it would take over a week to reach the L2 colony with the Nadesico's phase transition engines on full. However, due to the fact that we have limited time, I propose that we should attempt a boson jump," Inez explained. "I have obtained full approval from the Captain to carry this experiment out."

          "I like how you added the word 'experiment' in there. It really shows you care," Finn said as Inez led them to the observation deck, where the jump equipment had been set up again. Akito and Yurika followed. "So what is it about us that makes it possible to jump the ship? And how come you were able to jump?"

          "From my research on boson jumping, I have discovered that only those with a special system of nanomachines are capable of boson jumping," Inez answered.

          "But neither you or the Captain has ever had nanomachine implants," Finn said. "And what about Hikaru and Izumi?"

          "Neither of them has the required system." 

          "So then what makes it special to just us?"

          "The Captain, Akito, and myself were all born on Mars. Since nanomachines make up a section of the atmosphere, we all have a specialized system of them in our bodies. These nanomachines were programmed this way when they were introduced to the Mars atmosphere and Fort Mag's distortion field signal. It is a kind of mutation. However, with you it remains a mystery exactly why you are capable to jump. There is no record of your past, but we know for certain it has to do with some kind of lab accident. And since Ryoko shares your system, it's like two links of the same chain," Inez explained.

          "Lucky us," Akito said. Finn yawned. They arrived on the observation deck a few minutes later. Finn and Ryoko put their gloves on and plugged themselves into the IFS. 

          "We're going to L2 this time, so picture anything about the colony that stands out to you," Inez said, taking a seat by the computer terminal. Yurika and Akito took their places. 

          "Are you sure this is going to work with Ryoko here?" Yurika asked.

          "I don't see why it shouldn't," Inez replied. "You may begin." They all shut up and concentrated on the task at hand. They began to get the glowing circuits over their bodies. There was a split second where the room seemed to fall into darkness, but it was driven away as quickly as it came. 

          "We have entered approximate space around the L2 colony, Captain," Ruri said from the bridge. 

          "Home sweet home," Finn said in an all-too-apparent sarcastic tone.

          "Are there any remaining forces in scanner range?" Yurika asked.

          "No ma'am," Ruri replied.

          They launched two aestivalis and headed for the colony. Ryoko went with Hikaru, while Finn and went Akito. Finn guided Akito to the secret hangar where the TFs had been built. 

          "This place sure brings back the memories," Finn said in a low voice as he climbed down and onto the floor. The life support system was still working, but they wore space pilot suits in case it should suddenly fail. There were bits and pieces of twisted scrap metal, some of it partially melted from fire. Finn stopped and picked something up.

          "What's that?" Ryoko asked as she jumped to the floor. She looked over Finn's shoulder and saw a screwdriver in his hand. She didn't have to ask what it was about, remembering the memory of him crossing out the Nergal emblem on his old suit.

          "It's nothing," he said and dropped the screwdriver onto the floor with a light clang. "Let's go, the lab is over here." They made their way through the debris. Both Ryoko and Finn had machine guns slung over their shoulders in the event that any grasshoppers were still around. However, when they made it to the heavy steel door that separated the hangar from the inside, they found it had been melted shut by the intense heat of the fire. Finn moved some empty crates from beside the door and exposed a window with a control centre on the other side. Ryoko didn't need any instruction here. They both aimed their guns and opened fire on the Plexiglas window. The glass shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, but still remained held together by tiny fibers built into the material.

          "What were they expecting, a war down here or something?" Akito asked.

          "They added this the first time I blew up," Finn explained, remembering an engine test on the ACF that didn't go exactly as everyone had hoped. Finn drove the butt of his gun into the glass, sending it straight through. He then began clearing it away as to make a passage for them to climb through. The main power grid was still online, barely. The lights flickered occasionally and computers beeped from time to time. "Akito, you and Izumi go down that way," Finn said, motioning down a corridor to their right. "We'll check out down here. Look for anything that might give us a clue as to the existence of any other TF frames."

          "Right." Akito nodded. Finn handed him his machine gun and they went on their way.

          "Not very cheery is it? Looks more like a prison than a lab," Ryoko said as they walked down the dim and narrow corridor. 

          "That's pretty much what it was," Finn said grimly. "They had to beef up security after I escaped the first few times."

          "You broke out of here?" Ryoko asked, trying to find that memory, but she couldn't. Finn stopped outside a heavily plated door. There was a small plate beside it that read "Test Subject". The door was open a crack and Finn, with great effort, slid it back far enough for them to enter. Inside, the room was small, with a shelf of books beside a bunk. Ryoko stepped inside and shone her flashlight around the room. The ventilation ducts had heavy bars on them, and the walls were all barred, as though they were afraid someone would go straight through. "A little much, isn't it?" She moved closer and examined the steel walls. There were small indents all along the walls. Some had dried red stains on them. She didn't need anyone to tell her what the stains were. Finn sat down on the bunk and looked around. 

          "This was my prison for years. 5, 10, 15, I don't know how long they kept me locked up in here. They only let me out for tests or to bandage my hands when I broke them." He touched one of the indents on the wall with his thumb. Ryoko sat down beside him. She looked at the single sheet that covered the thing mattress; it to was covered in bloodstains. Finn picked a book off the shelf and flipped through it. He picked a few objects out of the hollowed inside. They ranged from outlet adaptors to small tools. 

          "How could you break out of this place?" Ryoko asked, more to herself than to Finn.

          "The first time I managed to rip the bars off the vent and crawled through there. They caught me when I came out in the hangar," Finn said quietly. "The next time I managed to fry the computer lock by splitting the wires from the inside. And the walls," He looked at his hands. Even though they were inside the tight material of the pilot's suit, he still felt a dull ach and could almost see the blood on his knuckles. The only people who had ever shown him any kindness were the flight deck crew. The scientists treated him worse than they would a lab rat. "Come on," he said as he stood up. "We'd better get going." Once outside, Finn slid the heavy door shut and they continued on their way. The sound of it closing echoed down the halls and made him cringe slightly.

          "I don't know how this place even existed without anyone knowing about it," Ryoko said as they continued down the corridor. "I mean, I lived on L2 for years and there was no sign of it."

          "It's on the dark side of the colony," Finn said. "Right underneath the dump. And you can only access it by shuttle. There are no tunnels that lead down here." They came to the end of the corridor and entered a large computer lab. There were computers, monitors, miscellaneous parts technology scattered around the place. Part of the roof had caved in, burying half the lab under tonnes of debris. Finn shoved a piece of the ceiling off a set of terminals and pulled two chairs over. "Ok, we're looking for anything that might give us a clue about any robots made here besides my old frames." Ryoko sat down and began to go through what information the computer had to offer. For some reason, the fileserver was still running, even after more than a year.

          "Hey, Finn. Does Project Armada mean anything to you?" Ryoko asked as she clicked on a file.

          "Hmm?" Finn leaned over. "Project Armada? No, never heard of it." Ryoko opened a document file. It read:

          "Test Subject 01 proves responsive to enhanced IFS implants. However, his mental capabilities have proven unstable. Due to his behaviour, he is unsuited for the dual pilot frame we have developed in Project Armada, and therefore the completed prototype will be scrapped. In addition, Test Subject 02 has successfully integrated herself with the Nadesco's core computer, furthering our reason to scrap the project."

          "'Dual pilot frame'? Finn asked. "Go back and click on anything that might look like a description of what that's all about." Ryoko hit back and clicked on a file called 'Dual Pilot System Synopsis'. It read:

          "Since Test Subject 01's failed compatibility test with the Nadesico's core computer, we assume that Test Subject 02 will have similar results. Therefore, development of Project Armada will continue unless Test Subject 02 successfully completes the computer integration and compatibility test. The principal behind Project Armada is that two human minds working in synchronization will be able to perform pilot duties at a much more advanced level than single pilots can. By utilizing the information processing capabilities of two pilots, reaction time and interpretive manoeuvres will be enhanced. Existing technology from the single pilot TF frames is being used in Project Armada's design."

          "Two pilots?" Ryoko asked.

          "For one fighter," Finn said. "Does it say when Armada was scrapped?"

          "Yeah, it was sometime in 2190." Ryoko replied. "Wait a sec, they have something here about the other test subject." She scrolled down, past blood type, height, weight, and all the physical information, until she found a picture.

          "Ruri?!" they both asked in unison. There, on the screen was a picture of Ruri. It was taken years ago, but it was obvious it was Ruri. 

          "It says here that Test Subject 01, which I guess means you, was the original selection for the Nadesico's science officer. But you could not interface with the computer system after your nanomachine accident, so you were sent here as an 'experimental piloting test subject'," Ryoko said. 

          "Explains a lot," Finn said bitterly, thinking back to what he remembered of his past on L2. "Does it have anything about the robot itself?" Ryoko went through some more data.

          "Here, I found some blueprints," she said and opened the file. It was obviously a TF based design, having a jet fighter mode and a robot mode. The wings were swept back, with small stabilizer fins at under the propulsion output and on either side of the cockpit. There were twin boosters on the top. In robot mode it looked similar to the aestivalis air frame. The legs came out of the engine output and the arms unfolded from two small extensions under the wing. The wings were placed as shoulder guards and twin microgravity blast cannons were put in place on either side of the head and could also be used in jet mode, extending just above either side of the cockpit. It was very sleek, and looked very fast.

          "Sweet," Finn said as he downloaded the information onto his communicator. "Seiya's going to drool at this. Now all we have to do is find what's left of it."

          "It says it was put in storage in subhangar compartment B-02. Does that mean anything to you?" Finn shook his head and sat back down at his computer. Opening a map of the complex, he began to search for the exact location of the storage compartment in question. 

          "Here it is," he said, highlighting a section of the map. "It's behind the main section of the hangar. We'll probably have to blow out a wall and move some stuff around to get it out though," he opened a vidwindow. "Hey Tenkawa, we found something. Meet us back in the main hangar."

          "Alright, we haven't had any luck," Akito said. "Meet you there." Finn closed the window.

          "Let's get moving," he said and they left. Their feet made a slight metallic clinking noise as they made their way back. 

          "Kind of depressing, eh Finn?" Ryoko asked as she led the way. However, she got no response. "Yo, Soatome?" She turned around, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd you go?" The colony shuddered slightly and a broken grasshopper fell from the ceiling. Ryoko jumped out of the way as it came crashing to the floor in pieces. The sight of the robot even made Ryoko jump in the other kind of way. Even though it lay broken on the floor, it still looked as though it might suddenly come alive. She heard a crashing noise coming from one of the rooms. Instinct told her to arm her gun. Silence followed for a few moments but was soon broken by another crash. Ryoko inched her way towards the source of the noise. Looking into the dark room, all seemed quiet, until four red glowing eyes of an active grasshopper blinked on. Squeezing the trigger, she opened fire at the robot. When the lights faded, she stopped. 'Maybe that thing got Finn,' her mind suggested. Something in the room moved and she fired again. When whatever it was in there stopped moving, she stepped into the room and hit the light switch. From behind a chair, a small white flag was waving. "What the…?"

          "A little trigger happy?" came Finn's voice as he poked his head out.

          "Damnit, it's only you," Ryoko said as she lowered the gun. "What were you doing in here?" Finn held up a small box that used to be some component to something. "What's that?"

          "It was a hard drive," Finn said, dropping the useless piece of scrap onto the floor. "I was pulling them out of these file servers."

          "In the dark,"

          "There were lights glowing, so I knew what to get. I didn't think I'd need them." Ryoko's head cocked to one side. 

          "Alright, whatever. Come on, let's go and find this Armada thing and get out of here," she said. Finn ripped a few more removable hard drives from the computers and followed.

          "We heard shooting, everything alright?" Akito asked. "Oh," he said when he saw a few grazed bullet holes in Finn's suit.

          "They like it rough," Izumi snorted. They all facefaulted. 

          They reached the hangar a few minutes later. Finn retrieved some sealant foam to patch up the holes in his suit and they began to search for the entrance to the hidden storage area. 

          "I can't find anything," Akito said, pushing his way along the wall, through all the debris. "Are you sure it was here?"

          "That's what the computer said," Finn replied, sitting in Akito's aesti, using radar to probe the depth of the walls.

          "Hey Saotome, I think I found something," Ryoko called from the wall opposite the hangar entrance. Finn made his way over. "Look here," she said, her hand against the reinforced steel wall. "It looks like there used to be a door here, but it's been shorn up."

          "That could be it," Finn displayed the map on a vidwindow. "And it says this is about where the entrance should be." He took a few steps back and motioned for Ryoko to get out of the way. He fired a few rounds from the machine gun, but they bounced harmlessly off. Ryoko, having removed her helmet, had a lock of hair shot off from this display. 

"Watch what you're doing!" she yelled at him. 

"Sorry," Finn said, "Not one of my brighter moments." And, with the aesti's fist, punched a small hole at the base of the floor, pushing through to the other side of the wall. Finn hopped down and entered this new opening. Inside he discovered what looked to be some kind of fighter jet covered by a large tarp. He tugged at it, trying to remove it, but his efforts appeared to be useless. Ryoko and the others helped and they soon, after laboriously struggling with it, succeeded in removing it. It looked pretty much like they had expected. It was about the same size as Skywarp had been and sat there in jet mode. Finn climbed up and opened the cockpit hatch. Inside there were two seats facing each other, each with the enhanced IFS ports. A screen sat between the two and monitors were placed all along the sides. The undercarriage and cockpit cover were black, which slight yellow marks around intake systems. The two pylonlike structures at the sides, which served as arms in robot mode, were painted grey. The twin multipurpose mechanisms on the top were set back, to serve as boosters.

          "Cool," Finn said, pressing a button. The boosters flipped forward into their cannon position. Looking at the controls, he was a little disappointed to find that the machine could only be controlled through the IFS, unlike his original frames, which had a manual control option. It also appeared to be powered by the gravitron beam like the aestivalis. He jumped into the rear pilot's seat, which faced forward, the other one, facing him, faced backwards. The author goes crosseyed. Sticking his hands into the IFS, he discovered that some kind of conduction equipment would be needed in order to effectively control the frame. There also seemed to be little, or no power left in the batteries after all this time. "Hey Ryoko, come take a look at this!" he called down and heard her climb up the side of the frame. 

          "Nice," Ryoko said, checking out the controls and taking a seat up front. "It feels kind of strange. In the aesti's the cockpit was pretty spacious. Here it's like you're boxed in, but it's also kind of comforting at the same time. It's weird."

          "Just remember to strap yourself in, and I don't mean that just for the 'safety first' thing." Finn said, remembering a time when he had broken his nose and cheekbones when he forgot to fasten the restraints and ended up smashing his face into the front monitor of the ACF.

          "So how exactly does this work?" Ryoko asked, looking through the clear screen at Finn.

          "I guess we both have to pilot it," Finn said. "And it works by doing what we want, not what just one of us wants. I don't know really."

          "The only trouble is trying to get it back to the Nadesico," Ryoko said. Chibi Finn sat on the stump. "Come up with anything yet?" She asked when a few minutes had passed.

          "Not a thing," Finn replied. The colony shuddered slightly.

          "Nadesico!" Ryoko said, opening a window to the bridge. "What was that just now?"

          "The colony's nuclear reactor is deteriorating," Ruri answered. "Due to the extensive damage the colony has sustained over the past year, cracks appear to have formed along the reactor core. Radiation is leaking and possible meltdown conditions exist."

          "But why now?" Akito asked.

          "It would appear that until now, the colony's structure rested in such a way that it did not disturb the core. However, due to the vibrations caused by your activity there, the structure has shifted slightly." Ruri displayed a section of the colony that had broken away from the asteroid shell. "Readouts indicate you have approximately thirty minutes before radiation spreads to the section of the colony you are in."

          "Half an hour? That's plenty of time," Finn said.

          "But we also have reason to believe that structural failure will occur in ten minutes time. You will all be crushed unless you get out of there fast." 

          "Ain't that just prime." 

          "Should we take off in the aestivalis?" Akito asked.

          "But we can't leave this guy here!" Finn called back. "You and Izumi go ahead." 

          "Please tell me you have a plan," Ryoko said.

          "I do, kind of."

          " 'kind of'"? 

          "Ok, here's what we need to do," Finn said as he fumbled with the controls. Finally he hit the one he was looking for and the cockpit roof closed above them, sealing them in darkness. He then hit more controls, but nothing happened. 'I'll just have to go with my fail safe,' he thought as he punched the main console. The monitors flickered and came to life. "We're going to need something to act as a conductor in the long run for this thing. But a few minutes exposed shouldn't hurt that much."

          "Ok, I'm guessing I stick my hands in these ports here," Ryoko said.

          "Right," Finn said as they both connected themselves into the IFS. "Good thing this thing still has some battery power left." He could feel a slight jolt as he did so. The heads-up display in front of them displayed what lay in front of them. There was another shudder.

          "That last tremor was caused when a section of the colony broke away. This resulted in a change in pressure surrounding the core and a small crack has formed along the reactor shell. It will reach critical temperature in approximately five minutes," Ruri said.

          "Great," Finn muttered. "Damnit, this thing's not responding to my commands." He tried to make the machine move, but it remained motionless. 

          "Three minutes," Ruri said. "At your current rate of progress, your chances of returning to the Nadesico alive are…"

          "Don't tell me the odds," Finn said. "Come on, what's wrong with you?" he asked the machine. 

          "I've got an idea," Ryoko said, causing Finn to look up from his semi-transparent screen at her. "You said this thing needs two pilots in sync right?" Finn nodded. "Then we have to send the commands at the same time, idiot."

          "It's worth a shot," Finn said. "Try getting this thing's propulsion drive going first." In their eyes, there was a bright flash of light. Finn opened his eyes, recovering from the blinding light. He felt different. As though he were floating in space, not sitting inside a mecha. There didn't seem to be any up for down. He tried to raise his hand to rub the remaining spots from his eyes, but, strangely enough, his hands wouldn't comply. Looking around, he found that he was not sitting inside the cockpit of the new robot, but he was, instead sitting inside the dimly lit compartment in which it was stored. However, he couldn't see his body, he could only feel it. 

          "What's going on here?" he heard Ryoko ask. "Why can't I move?"

          "Ryoko?" Finn tried to turn his head to look, but found that the only part of his body that he seemed to have control over were his eyes. 

          "Finn? What the hell is going on?"

          "Wait a sec," Finn said as he began to put the pieces together. "This may sound strange, but picture moving forward a few feet, like you would in an aestivalis."

          "Alright."

          "Now," Finn pushed himself forward a little. The machine complied and slid the approximate distance. "I get it now." They moved forward again.

          "Go with what works, I guess." Some how, they were able to feel each other's presence. It was as though their two minds made up one body, and only moved when they both wanted it to. Finn could also feel Ryoko's thoughts; it felt similar to the time when they sat at the table with the memory tiles. He couldn't read her mind like a book, but could sense what she was feeling, and she to him. 

          "Melt down in thirty seconds," they heard Ruri say. The machine fired a shot from its cannons and blew a hole in the wall large enough for them to escape through. They moved forward, the thrusters kicking in, and thrust out of the hangar and out into space. However, they both disagreed on where to turn next. Finn wanted to go up and around the colony's top section and then take a straight line back to the Nadesico, Ryoko wanted to head away from the colony first and take a wide turn and meet up with the Nadesico. As a result, they didn't move anywhere. 

          From the bridge, they watched the timer count down, when it hit zero the colony erupted in a blinding flash. 

          "So what life do you think he's on now?" Minato asked Megumi.

          "This is number seven by my count," Megumi answered.

"Captain, I am detecting collision damage on the Nadesico's starboard arm. Projecting visual." And there was the new robot, its tail end sticking out of the hull. "Idiots."

"Akito, Izumi," Yurika said to the two pilots who had just returned to the ship before the explosion. "Go pull them out."

"Back from the dead again, eh Saotome?" Akito said as they pulled the hatch open. Inside, Finn and Ryoko sat there swirlely eyed, small wisps of steam rose from their bodies. 

"I feel funky," Finn said, dazed.  

**Fly Me To The Moon**

          The new robot, which they had named Jetstream sat in the hangar for a few days while the Nadesico continued on its way to Earth. They would have boson jumped, but two certain pilots were kind of out of it for a couple of days.  

          "How's it coming down here?" Finn asked Seiya when he and Ryoko had recuperated. Fortunately they had only piloted Jetstream for a few minutes, so damage was similar to a bad case of sunstroke. Seiya was massaging his temples. 

          " 'How's it coming'?" he repeated. "I'll tell you how it's coming! First you make us bust our butts for weeks building Skywarp and then you go ahead and blow it up! And now you expect us to put this half completed piece of unknown technology together while you lay around in bed all day?!"

          "Yeah, pretty much," Finn said calmly. Seiya sat down exasperated and handed Finn a palmscreen. So far they had completed overhauling the gravitron energy converters, which were in serious need of fine-tuning after staying locked up for years. The IFS, fortunately, didn't need any repairs of completion. The only thing left was to make sure the transformation joints were in decent shape for when the machine was in robot mode. However, there was still one problem. How in the world were Finn and Ryoko supposed to pilot this thing in combat when they could barely go in a straight line? 

          "Lt. Saotome, please report to the training simulator," his communicator beeped at him. 

          "Keep up the good work!" Finn said as he left. A wrench collided with his skull for that one. "What's going on?" he asked when he arrived at the training simulator. 

          "I have programmed the new frame's combat data into the simulator. It will allow you two to train maneuvers while the frame itself is still under repair. I have also developed these gloves to act as conductors for you." Inez handed him a pair of these new gloves. They were a lot less bulky than his last set, and fit kind of like a second skin. "They are not completely metallic in composition," Inez added. "They are standard pilot's gloves with micro conductors built into the material."

          "Can we start already?" Ryoko asked impatiently. 

          "Very well, pick a simulation chamber and we'll begin," Inez said. Ryoko took the one on the left while Finn took the one on the right. "Are you ready?"

          "Yes," they both said in unison.

          "Initializing connection programme," Inez said. Finn sat the monitor go from black, to static, to the view from inside Jetstream. "Merging cerebral functions." Finn and Ryoko felt their minds connecting. The view was like it was the first time they connected. It felt as though the frame was their body, not just a mere extension of it. "First, I want you to fly to the end of these lights and back," Inez said, and a series of lights appeared in the virtual space they were in. It was a familiar feeling, even though they had only experienced it once before. Finn tried to make himself move towards the blinking lights, but his limbs wouldn't comply. "You are not in sync with each other," Inez said. "You have to act as though you were on being."

          "Easier said than done," they both said.

          "Maybe not," Inez said. 

They both fell quiet and tried to feel out each other's thoughts. It felt was a strange feeling, but each one could hear what the other was thinking. 

          "Alright, let's do this," they said, and began to move with the along the lights. It was a little more difficult to make the turn though. Finn's instinct told him to take the corner sharply as soon as the lights ended and use the inertia to swing the frame over, whereas Ryoko's was to make a build up speed and then hit the retro thrusters and skip off the wall of force it created. They made the corner, more or less and proceeded back to the starting point. This exercise continued for a while until they were finally able to act as one. Their next task was to weave in between the lights. The 'training', as Inez called it, lasted all day.

          "Alright, tomorrow we are going to move beyond simple two-dimensional maneuvers and go on to moves that require three dimensional perception," she said as the two emerged from the simulator exhausted. They made some sign of acknowledgment and made their way to the cafeteria for something to eat.

          "Wow Ryoko, you look exhausted," Hikaru said as the two entered.

"He must be really good," Inez said in her usual insane little way. "Training," Ryoko said as she sat down,

"You've been at it all day," Hikaru said.

"All day, all night…" Izumi stopped short as her face got to know a tray a little better. She lay on the floor laughing like the deranged lunatic that she was.

After getting something to eat they went back to their room and fell into bed, too exhausted to do anything but sleep. However, after what seemed like a few minutes, Inez was buzzing them to go back to the simulator.

"You'd think a simulator wouldn't be so physically stressful," Finn yawned as they reached the simulator. "I mean, we're not actually doing anything physical."

"That may be true, but your minds perceive it to be real and therefore tell your bodies to feel the way they do," Inez said and handed Finn a DVD of The Matrix. "Watch that and you'll get a better idea." Dual sweatdrops went around for that one. "Anyway, today we'll be working on three dimensional movements, rather than just simple left or right turns."

"Uh huh," Finn said as he began to nod off standing up. Ryoko nudged him the ribs. 

"Just climb in and we'll get started," Inez ordered, taking a seat by the computer terminal. They complied and day two of Jetstream training commenced. 

These 12 hour training sessions continued over the next few days. During this time, the Nadesico had reached the Moon.

"Megumi, can you put me in touch with UF government?" Yurika asked/ordered. "We'd better explain to what's left of them just exactly what's going on."

"I'll try, Captain," Megumi said, picking up her headset. The main screen fizzled for a few minutes before she finally got the right frequency. 

"Who's there?" a familiar voice asked.

"Daddy?" Yurika said surprised. "Daddy? What are you doing there? I thought you'd been with the UF fleet on its way to Mars."

"Hello Yurika, dear. You seem to have grown a bit," Admiral Misumaru said. "And I mean that generally, not referring to one area in particular," he added quickly when he noticed the bridge crew staring at him. "What brings you here? I'd have thought you'd be heading for Mars with the fleet."

"The fleet's been destroyed, Daddy," Yurika said simply. "We watched them all go boom."

"How can that be? We had all our forced in the fleet! Does this mean the Jovians have won?" Misumaru asked.

"No, the Jovians are all gone to," Yurkia said. "Ruri, show him the data logs." Ruri displayed the recording of the UF and Jovian fleets being destroyed. Misumaru laughed.

"Are you disappointed your daddy's still alive?" he chuckled. 

"Of course not, but this happens to be very urgent. I need to speak with whoever is in charge of the Earth government right away." Yurika said.

"But if you're still alive then it means we've won!" Misumaru said.

"No Daddy. There's a new Jovian faction in the works, which brings me to my point. We've talked with the leader of the new Jovians, called the Division forces, and he expressed interest in negotiating a peace treaty. We're going to meet him in a few days. Is the Supreme Commander of the UF government still alive? Or was he blown up with the fleet over Mars?" 

"He's alive alright," Misumaru said. "But I don't know if it would be a good idea to talk to him. He still hasn't gotten over you taking the Nadesico to Mars the first time."

"Daddy, just let me try. This is something very important," Yurika persisted. "Please?" she asked with puppy dog eyes. 

"Oh alright, I'll forward you. I can avoid having to go through his secretary, not that I haven't already gone through her," Misumaru said with a chuckle. Everyone sweatdropped. The window went static for a moment before it cleared and showed the desk of the Supreme Commander. 

"What is it?" he demanded. "I'm not in the mood for any of your shenanigans. This had better be good."

"Commander, this is Captain Yurika Misumaru of the Nadesico. We have just returned from Mars, where we have witnessed the total destruction of the UF and Jovian forces," Yurika said.

"Our entire fleet destroyed? How am I supposed to believe this?" he said impatiently.

"Ruri?" Yurika said and Ruri displayed the logs.

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"Sir, why would we want to trick you into thinking the fleet had been destroyed? We're all on the same side here." Yurika said. The Commander mumbled something.

"If both forces are destroyed, what is there left to talk about?"

"While the existing UF and Jovian forces as we knew them have all been destroyed, a new Jovian army called the Division is coming together. We have made contact with their leader and have requested that both sides attempt a negotiated peace," Yurika explained. "And before we go halfway across the solar system to initiate these talks, we would like to have your pre-approval and your cooperation."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, in less than one year's time, we will have a new Jovian army more powerful than the one before to deal with. I don't know about you, but I don't think another war is such a great idea and that the Earth can't move fast enough to build an army quickly enough to defend itself from such a force. The Earth is already down 99% of its total strength, and the only ship in any condition to fight is the Nadesico," Yurika said.

"You're not entirely right there, Captain," The Commander said. "We still have the Cosmos in lunar orbit as a rear guard."

"But that's still only two ships against an entire fleet! How can we possibly win when we're facing such numerical superiority?" 

"Where is Chairman Akatsuki? He'll know the status of all Nadesico class ships."

"Akatsuki is currently sitting in the brig. We would like to put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity," Yurkia said.

"I'll only cooperate if he is released into our custody," the Commander said.

"How can you…"

"That is my only offer. Take it or leave it," the Commander said stubbornly. Yurika heaved a sigh.

"Agreed," she said, finally. 

"I'll meet you at on the Moon at the UF emergency bunker," the Commander said and closed the window.

"Captain, are you sure about this?" Minato asked. "Are we going to really let Akatsuki go?"

"If it'll help us to achieve peace, we have to make certain sacrifices. I don't like the idea of letting him go either," Yurika said.

"Lt. Saotome isn't going to be happy about this," Megumi added.

"Keep us on course for the Moon, we still have a couple of hours before arrive, so that gives us a bit of time," Yurika said as the left the bridge.

Finn sat down in the cafeteria and rested his head against the table.

"Oog," he managed to say as he tried to raise his hand to take a bite out of the Mars bowl that lay in font of him. Ryoko was in a similar state. They had been training in the simulator for five days with only a couple hours of sleep between each session. 

"Saotome?" Yurika said as she came into the room.

          "Uh huh," Finn replied, lifting his eyes up to see who called his name. He managed to suck one of the long noodles off out of the bowl.

          "You're not busy are you?" Finn shook his head, "Good, there's something I need to talk to you about it."

          "Go ahead," Finn said.

          "We're going to be releasing Akatsuki into the UF's custody in a few hours in exchange for peace talks," Yurika said.

          "That's wonderful, you go do that," Finn replied.

          "You're certainly taking this better than I expected,"

          "What did you want again?" 

          "Um…we're handing Akatsuki over to the UF,"

          "Ok, have fun," Finn sat there for a few minutes. Slowly, the words began to register in his overworked brain. "You're going to do what?!" he shouted and as he jumped to his feet. In the process of doing this though, he inhaled a noodle. He rolled around on the floor for a minute before Ryoko stepped on his stomach. "Come again?" He asked, half of the noodle hanging out of his mouth. 

          "I said we're going to be handing Akatsuki over to the UF," Yurika replied. Finn sat down.

          "Can I ask you just one question?" he said calmly.

          "Shoot."

          "Are you out of your blue haired perky voiced mind?!" he demanded. "He's dangerous. If I weren't such a nice guy I'd have killed him myself already, and now you're going to let him go free?"

          "We're not setting him free, we're just putting him in someone else's hands," Yurika said.

          "Oh yeah, like the UF will do anything. They'll probably let him go in exchange for a few more Nadesico class ships or something," Finn said. "Captain, gah! I'm choking on my own rage here!"

          "I'm afraid I have to agree with him, Captain. He's a menace to society. The first thing he'll do is seek revenge," Ryoko said, finally talking.

          "Yes, listen to Ryoko," Finn pleaded. "He's nothing but trouble, all he's got is…"

          "The resources we need to be able to fight off the Division forces if we can't achieve peace," Yurika interrupted him.

          "Couldn't the UF take control of Nergal's assets?" Ryoko asked. "If they've got what we need to fight, why don't we just take it?"

          "Because only Akatsuki would know where and what to look for, and if he's behind bars he won't exactly be all that cooperative," Yurika said. "And besides, we'd have to put up with Erina's whining."

          "Where did the snake-woman get to anyway?" Finn asked out of curiosity. "Shouldn't she but locked up along with him?"

          "No. She kept whining and complaining down there and was driving the guards nuts so I put her in charge of sanitation. Under close guard of course," Yurika said. Finn and Ryoko blinked.

          "Faster! Come on!" they heard a screechy voice scream.

          "Eh?" everyone asked

          "Harder!" The party made their way silently to the door. "Come on! Harder! Yes! That's it! Come on!" They peeked around the corner and saw Erina standing over some guy who was scrubbing the floor. "That's better!" She whacked him with the head of a mop she held in her hand. There was a collective facefault. "You're not getting paid to just sit there and idly scrub the dirt out of these floors. You're job as sanitation engineer is a vital part of this ship! So suck it up and get to work! I mean it!"

          "She's really getting into it," Finn said quietly as they shrank away from the corner and returned. "Anyway, back to the problem at hand. Let me restate my position," he cleared his throat and sat down. "Ahem, are you freaking nuts?"

**Execution**

          Finn slipped silently down the halls. It was well past three o'clock in the morning, and only essential crewmembers were around. The corridors were deserted and silent. The only noise that broke the stillness was Finn's soft footsteps. He had logged his required four hours connected to Ryoko and had some business to attend to.

          'Good, he's asleep,' Finn thought as he peered around the corner. The sentry was in some state between sleep and alertness. He didn't even notice Finn slip by and into the room he was supposed to be protecting. 'Security's pretty slack. I'm surprised he hasn't broken out by now.' When the door slid closed, the room was nearly in total darkness. The only light came from the screen that kept the prisoner in his cell. Finn swiped his security card and the screen faded. A small sliver of light remained around the cell's entrance. Finn withdrew his gun from its holster, slid a clip into the awaiting holder, and clicked the safety off. Walking up to the cell, he aimed the gun at the very centre and held his outstretched arm there. 

          "Goodbye," he said quietly and fired three shots into the dead centre of the cell. "Consider yourself lucky I ended it for you quickly. Had I more time I would have enjoyed putting you out of my misery." He walked over to the door and flicked the light switch. "What the hell?" The cell was empty. All that lay where were three slugs embedded in the steel wall. A vidwindow appeared in the centre of the room. "Captain?"

          "Hello Saotome," Yurika said, stifling a yawn. 

          "If this is a joke I'm not laughing," Finn said seriously.

          "This is no joke. I figured you might try something like this, so I had Akatsuki moved to an undisclosed location," Yurika said.

          "I can't let you turn him over to the UF. If he gets away then everything we've worked for will be in vain. He'll have won. Even without the ruins he's still dangerous," Finn said and kicked the shell casings away, sending them clicking off into a corner.

          "But he happens to be the only bargaining chip we have," Yurika said as the dozing guard came into the room.

          "I'll give you one thing," Finn said. "I didn't suspect this. Well played, Captain." The guard took Finn's gun and escorted back to the room he shared with Ryoko. 

          "Just so you know, I have you under surveillance. So don't try anything like this again, is that clear?" Yurika said as Finn stood outside the door. 

          "Perfectly," Finn entered the room and slid the door shut.

          That morning, they arrived at the UF base on the Moon. Finn watched as Akatsuki was led away in cuffs. Every cell in his body screamed at him to charge him and crack his skull on the floor. But Ryoko held him back with a stern look, and also having handcuffed him to the side rail of the hallway. Akatsuki sneered in Finn's direction, as though laughing at Finn's failure to finish him off while he had the chance. The Commander greeted them and oversaw the transfer of Akatsuki from the Nadesico into military custody. There were a surprising number of soldiers hanging around. There were even a few battleships in the massive hangar. The Cosmos was among them, along with another Nadesico class vessel that had only been completed the day before. It was christened the Skylinx, and looked fairly similar to the Katkitsubata. Finn wasn't all the surprised when he saw Erina led away behind Akatsuki. She didn't have the same smug expression. She almost looked scared. 

          "There is also one more thing I'd like to ask before I will accept any peace treaty," the Commander said when he met Yurika. Finn and the other pilots stood behind her, along with Prospector and Hori. "Him." He pointed at Finn. "We have some questions for him."

          "But Lt. Saotome is a vital part of my crew. If the Nadesico were to come under enemy attack, we'd be defenseless without him. We only have three pilots left that can pilot aestivalis units," Yurika said. 

          "Just an interview then. He might have information valuable to our cause," the Commander said. "In the interest of peace, or course." Finn glared at the Commander. He seemed like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum. He even stomped his foot and crossed his arms when Yurika protested. Finally Yurika caved and granted the UF an interview with Finn. It was to be two hours only, no more, for he still had yet to perfect the dual pilot system in Jetstream. 

          "What is your name?" an interrogation officer asked when he, the Supreme Commander, and Finn were in a tiny room. Finn was tied to his chair.

          "Unknown," he said simply.

          "What function do you fill on the Nadesico?"

          "A big fish?" Finn laughed and the officer struck him across the face. "It's been fifteen minutes and you're still asking the most basic of questions. If you're going to interrogate me, at least do it professionally. I don't have time to waste with newbies like you."

          "You're not even supposed to exist," the Commander said. "That very fact makes you an obstacle."

          "Ooo, an obstacle to what? I wonder. Twenty minutes. Tick tick tick," Finn laughed. "Time's a'wasting."

          "Then we might have to punish you,"

          "Go ahead. I've been blown up, punched, kicked, torn, and beaten more times than you guys can count," Finn said. "Granted that's not difficult in your case."

          "We didn't say you would be the one physically harmed. It would be a shame if something were to happen to one of your fellow crewmembers on board the Nadesico," the Commander said. Finn laughed.

          "Man, and here I thought I'd be up against something original. You want to get to Ryoko? Go ahead and try. But don't come crying to me with your troop's medical bill." They stood in silence for a while. "Tick tick tick."

          "What is the status of the new Jovian forces?"

          "That seems harmless enough," Finn said, there was a slight clinking noise, but no one paid any attention to it. "Well, basically, they can't drop chulips on you guys anymore. I'm sure that'll make things a little easier. But as for their new forces, who knows? They said it was better than what they had earlier. So if you're going to fight them with those pieces of scrap I saw in the hangar, you might as well give up now. Oh, but don't take my word for it. Hear for yourself." Finn managed to hit a button on his communicator and it played the log of the recording of Kazaka."

          "You do realize you're going right into a trap, right?" the Commander asked. "They obviously want the Nadesico to get at the technology inside it."

          "Pretty hard not to tell. Even the Captain figured it out. But she seems to think she can make a difference, so I'm not going to burst her bubble."

          "What will you do if you come under enemy fire?" Finn made a childish sound of an explosion. "This isn't a game!"

          "Yes it is. It's just that I'm not going to be one of your pawns," Finn said. 

          "He's being uncooperative," the Commander said and made some gesture with his hand. The officer picked up a box off the floor. He withdrew who metal things attached by a cord, which he plugged into the wall. 

          "Ahh, shock treatment, a very reliable method of interrogation." The officer dug the two electrodes into Finn's chest. "That's good, a little higher please," Finn laughed. 

          "What the hell?" the Commander grabbed the electrodes and tested them on the officer, who cursed and jumped back in considerable pain. 

          "Warning, keep out of the hands of children," Finn said. "Death or injury may result. We do not assume any liability in the event of death or injury. For more information call us toll-free at 1-800…" The Commander punched Finn face to shut him up. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

          "I am the Supreme Commander of the United Armed Forces!" the Commander shouted.

          "What's left of them, anyway," Finn said.

          "Captain Misumaru," the Commander said as he came up to Yurika, who was standing by some vending machines in the hangar drinking a pop. "I'm sorry, but we're going to have to keep Lt. Saotome for a little while longer. He has more information that we first realized, so it's going to take us a while longer to get the facts straight."

          "Nah, it's ok," Finn said, coming up right behind him. "We're all done."

          "That's great, because we have to going shortly. Did everything go ok?" Yurika asked.

          "No worries here. Oh, Commander, you might want to get a medic to look at a few of your men. They must have walked into a door or something," Finn said, motioning to a pile of bodies near one of the hangar's entrances, all of whom looked like they'd just had the shit kicked out of them. The Commander stared at the pile. "Anyway, thanks, it was fun," Finn added, throwing his arm over the Commander's shoulder in a very friendly manner. The Commander fumbled for something. "Reach for your gun and they'll be scraping you off the wall with a squeegee," He said quietly when Yurika wasn't looking. As they left, Finn chucked the remains of his handcuffs into a garbage can.

          "Are you sue it's a good idea to let them go, sir?" Some other high-ranking officer asked.

          "Let them get blown to scrap," the Commander said. "Now that we have Akatsuki, we don't need the Nadesico."

          "But shouldn't we stop them?"

          "Misumaru is brilliant, but a rouge, she causes too much trouble. I have already taken this into consideration and arranged for a covert operative, you know the one."

          "If the Nadesico and her crew fall under inescapable enemy fire, what are the agent's instructions?"

          "Terminate, with extreme prejudice," the Commander grinned behind his sunglasses. On the other side of the large hangar by the Nadesico, they heard Finn sneeze.  

**The Newbie**

          "What an ass," Finn said under his breath as he and the Captain boarded the Nadesico.

          "What was that?" Yurika asked off handedly.

          "Looks like we're last," Finn said. All the crew had returned from their brief shore leave, and their supplies had been restocked. All that was left was to take off. "You do realize we're walking straight into a trap, right?"

"The Jovians will probably pull the same stunt they did before when we got Shiratori," Yurika said. 

"Where is our little Jovian friend anyway? I didn't see him when we landed. I'd have thought the supreme whatever would want to 'have a word with him'." 

"I told Minato to hide him somewhere," Yurika said as they walked down the hall, towards the elevator. "I don't think it's a good idea for the UF to know about him yet. Besides, we're going to need him when we get to Jupiter. He seems to have some kind of personal connection with this Kanzaka. I just hope he doesn't find it too awkward being on an enemy ship." Just then one of the doors slid open and a slightly disarranged Shiratori emerged. His hair was all ruffled and his uniform, which usually perfectly in order, was a slightly unbuttoned. Minato poked her head out and looked to be in a similar state. She didn't see Finn or Yurika and they both stole down a side passage. 

"I suppose you didn't tell Minato to hide him _there_?" Finn sweatdropped and they boarded the elevator. "But getting back to my point," He said when the doors closed. "Are you sure about this? My spider sense is tingling." 

"We have to pursue peace, no matter how unlikely it seems. As long as there's a chance that Kanzaka might consider peace talks, we have to take it."

"I guess there's no talking you out of it. Alright Captain, I'll see you later." Finn said as he got off at his deck. However, as he got off the lift he collided with something, which fell into him, causing them both to fall. "Eh?"

          "Oh, I'm sorry," came a perky voice. Finn looked up to see a tall woman in a Nergal uniform getting back on her feet. She had long, straight purple hair done up in a ponytail, and a sharp face with dark eyes.

          "Who are you?" Yurika asked from inside the lift, noticing the woman's uniform to be that of a pilot's. "I've never seen you before."

          "Excuse me, Captain Misumaru," the woman said. "I am Kumi Kato. I was just assigned to the Nadesico from the Skylinx." She saluted Yurika. 

          "Excuse me?" Finn said. Kumi looked at him and realized she had been standing on his ribcage, not to mention the lift doors were repeatedly closing on Finn's head. 

          "Oh, I'm sorry." She jumped off him. However, in doing so, she seemed to do more harm than good, for there was a loud crack. "Are you alright?"

          "I'm fine," Finn said with a hint of sarcasm as he got up. "That rib always breaks."

          "You must be Lt. Saotome, I've heard so much about you," Kumi said.

          "Really," Finn said, interested by the fact that she knew who he was. 

          "Just what are you doing here, anyway?" Yurika asked 

          "My superiors said it would be best if I joined the Nadesico to complete your aestivalis wing, since Pilot Subaru is out of commission," Kumi said, stepping into the lift. "From what I understand you only have three pilots. Finn narrowed his eyes a little at this one. "My aestivalis was just transferred over a few minutes ago. I was lucky because they were just about to close the entrance when I got there…" Finn heard her say as the lift doors closed.

          "Very educational," he said to himself as he made his way to the hangar to check on Jetstream's progress. When he arrived, the presence of a new aestivalis was noticeable. Upon entering, Finn was used to seeing the red, yellow, blue, and pink aestis lined up in a row. But now there was another dark blue frame, similar to Akatsuki's frame, which was restrained away from the other aestis since it didn't have a pilot anymore. Finn guessed the Jun might pilot it if need be. 

Jetstream seemed to be all in one piece. "How goes it?" he asked Seiya, who was working on the aesti model diorama.

          "It's done, nearly at the cost of my sanity," Seiya said, putting down a half completed torso.

          "I thought you liked machines?" Finn said.

          "I do. But do you realize what working around the clock living off instant noodles and coffee is like? I'm used to living off inspiration, not a deadline."

          "Actually, I do know what that's like," Finn said, thinking back to the construction of Skywarp. "Anyway, how does she look?"

          "The gravitron energy converters were all shot. We had to rip them out. Problem is that this thing's shell was built before the aestivalis were made, so the converters we have aren't compatible."

          "So…what does that mean?"

          "While you were off in lala-land on Mars, we salvaged a few bits and pieces of the Katkitsubada. From those salvaged pieces we managed to coble together a miniaturized phase transition engine. It's not as powerful as the one's the Nadesico have, but it'll do just as well as your old nuclear engines did," Seiya said as he rearranged a few completed models.

          "So basically this thing's running on a self-contained PT engine?"

          "Pretty much. I don't know how reliable it's going to be, but it's the best we could do given the time and resources at our disposal." 

          "Excuse me?" a timid voice asked. They turned around and saw a fairly short, blonde haired girl with glasses carrying a stack of binders in front of them. Her hair was cut just around her shoulders. She was about Hikaru's height and looked to be about the same age as well. "Excuse me for interrupting," she said again, "Could you tell me how to get to the bridge? I was just transferred here and I don't know my way around. I'm Mika Hitori. They brought me over from the Skylinx as additional administrative personnel."

          "What's your rush?" Seiya asked, taking a step forward. "There's always time to get to know one another." Mika stepped back a little.

          "Down boy," Finn sweatdropped. "You go out that door, turn to the left and take the lift up to the bridge. It's at the end of the hall on your right." Mika slipped away. 

          "What'd you do that for? I think she liked me," Seiya said.

          "What have you been smoking? You sounded more like some kind of sex offender," Finn replied. Seiya shrugged and returned to his model building and magazine reading.

"Hello Thumblina." Seiya said to himself, glancing at the magazine he had lying open on the diorama table.

" 'Pigmies in Panties?' What the hell?"

"I'll tell ya, there's a lot of advantages to tiny women," Finn facefaulted. "I'll have to make her now, to complete the collection." Finn noticed a small collection of plastic figures that stood separately from the models. There was one of the Captain, Ruri, Minato, and most of the major female cast members. Finn was a little relieved to find Ryoko was not among them. However, there was a slight inaccuracy between the Captain and Ruri figures. * nudge nudge * There was a little sketch book that had a roughly drawn picture of Kumi on it, which Finn assumed to be the next figure to join the plastic crew.

"I'll leave you to your little warped, twisted world now," Finn said and moved over to examine Jetstream. It was obvious that there had been some major work done on the frame. There were scratches and flakes of paint all around it. But all in all, it looked pretty good. There was a small tag taped to the nose that said it was due for a fresh coat of radar absorbing paint, which would be applied shortly before they jumped to Jupiter. He jumped into his seat and tested what components he could by himself, such as the scanners, life support, ect. "It looks pretty good," he said to Seiya on his way out. However, the new dark blue aesti gave him a strange feeling. It was like having Akatsuki back. The frames were almost identical, except for the headpiece. Kumi's was a newer model than any of the ones they had. Also, something didn't feel quite right. Finn felt for his notebook, but it wasn't there in its usual place, stuffed in the back of his belt. "Hmm," he said to himself and scratched his chin. "I suppose it's possible." 

          Finn didn't meet up with Ryoko until later for a training session. They had more or less mastered textbook combat maneuvers and were now practicing scenarios that would demand instantaneous reaction, where you had no time to think about your actions. Inez had made it 'easy' for them. They were to face a squadron of twelve grasshoppers, three heavy cruisers, and two dimojins. 

They cranked up the thrusters and flew into the heart of the grasshopper formation. The grasshoppers fired their virtual missiles, but each one missed its target. Jetstream flew high above the formation and the two main cannons flipped forward. Two blasts were fired and the small robots vaporized. They then flew projected their distortion field to full forward and flew straight through two of the cruisers, the third being wiped out in the resulting explosion. 

          "Now for," Finn began.

          "The dimojins," Ryoko finished.

          "Good. You're cerebral activity is 99% synchronized," Inez said as she watched from an overhead view on her computer.

          In the blink of an eye Jetstream flew in between the two robots. They made a futile attempt at swinging their massive clawed hands at it. Jetstream did a quick u-turn and fired a series of shots at them.

          "What's this?" came a voice from behind Inez. "Some kind of videogame?"

          "Who are you?" Inez demanded.

          "Name's Kumi Kato. I'm here to complete the Nadesico's aestivalis wing," Kumi said. "So what's this? It looks like fun."

          "This is a simulation," Inez explained. "Pilot Subaru and Lt. Saotome are piloting the fighter you see here."

          "I thought two manned fighters were scrapped years ago?"

          "This is not a conventional fighter," Inez said, turning back to the screen. Jetstream had now transformed into its robot mode and was engaging the first dimojin. It pulled its left wing out, which then unfolded into a long sword. With one great sweep it sliced the dimojin in two. Even though the enemy robot tried to shield itself with its massive arms, the blade went cleanly though. The remaining dimojin, seizing the momentary distraction of its foe's victory, fired a gravity blast. Thousands if tiny hexagons became visible as the blast collided with Jetstream's distortion field. However, the shock of the colossal energy blast caused Jetstream to lose its sword. The dimojin took advantage of this and thrust forward, but before it reached its opponent, Jetstream delivered a swift roundhouse kick into the dimojin's distortion field. Jetstream then reached forward with its metallic hand and literally ripped the distortion field out of existence. It grabbed the dimojin's head and crushed it in its hands before thrusting its right arm down the neck opening and fired a series of shots from the small arm-mounted machine gun. To finish off the already crippled foe, it brought its left knee straight into the chest plate of the dimojin, the sharp tail fin that was placed at the kneecap in robot mode sliced through the damaged armour and hit its engine, causing it to erupt into flames. At the centre of the blast, Jetstream stood unharmed. 

          "Haha! Not too shabby, eh?" Finn and Ryoko said in unison. The way they spoke sounded kind of eerie to Kumi. Just then, a large blastwave narrowly missed them. The inertia from the blast sent the two of them spinning off into space. "That's pretty low, Inez." From their view, Inez and Kumi lost sight of Jetstream as it disappeared into the stars. However, a massive stream of bright blue light erupted from the point where they had disappeared. The enemy craft, which had been a surprise attack  Jovian capital ship, melted under the intensity of the blast and was reduced to a few pieces of loose scrap. The simulator hatches opened and a weary Finn and Ryoko emerged. 

          "What was that bit and the end about?" Finn demanded. 

          "In combat, you have to expect such surprises. The enemy is not going to play by a fixed set of rules. You have to be ready for anything," Inez said. "You of all people should know that.

          "But still, that's being pretty cheap," he took a seat on the steps that lead up to the simulation pods. Ryoko sat down beside him and took a drink from a bottle of water.

          "Who's this?" Ryoko asked when she noticed Kumi standing there. 

          "You must be Pilot Subaru," Kumi said. "I'm your replacement pilot." 

These words stung. " 'Replacement pilot'? Who are you?"

          "Kumi Kato. I'm sorry to hear about your accident with the IFS. It's such a shame to lose such an experienced pilot such as yourself," Kumi said. "But I think Pilot Tenkawa will make a fine wing commander." Ryoko's eye twitched slightly. 

          "Replacement?" Finn heard her say under her breath. 

          "And I've already met Lt. Saotome here," Kumi said. Ryoko began to get up, but Finn held her back. He could almost see the steam shooting out of her ears.

          "We're not useless, you know," Finn said. "We're going to be piloting Jetstream."

          "What's Jetstream?" Kumi asked. Inez clicked on an still image of the simulator Jetstream.

          "This is the dual-pilot system fighter that we've named Jetstream. It is a multipurpose, high maneuverable, transformable fighter. In fighter mode, it has an output capacity of 3000, twice as much as an aestivalis, and can perform high-speed maneuvers that would would tear apart an aestivalis due to the intense g-forces. It has twin boosters which flip forward and release PT destruction wavefronts generated by concentrating…" Inez went on to explain the technical features of Jetstream. 

          'Yep,' Finn thought. 'Akito put it best. 'a dried-out walking encyclopedia'.' 

          "Man, what a bitch," Ryoko said later as they were going back to their room, her hands balled into fists. "I just wanted to rearrange her face." 

          "She does seem to have a bitchy quality about her," Finn affirmed.

          "Maybe she's some relation to Erina," Ryoko suggested.

          "Could be." They walked for a few minutes, pondering this thought. "You know what, she seems to be more like the female equivalent to Akatsuki. She's arrogant, self-centered, doesn't take anyone else into consideration. It's like someone made a female version of him." Ryoko agreed. 

          "She said she already knew you, what's that all about?" she asked offhandedly.

          "Yes, I had a slight altercation with her when I got back onboard the ship after the 'interview'. Let me just say that our first encounter was nausea inducing. I preferred having that nut Sanoske/Sakura, whatever you want to call him/her/it," Finn still shuddered at the thought of encountering her again. "Why do all these fruitloops seem to gravitate towards me?" 

          Ahead of them, there was someone standing at their door, swiping her card in the scanner trying to get it to open. 

          "Can I help you?" Finn asked the would-be intruder.

          "Oh, I'm sorry," came a familiar, timid voice. Mika turned to face them. "I can't seem to get into my room."

          "This is our room," Ryoko said.

          "But I thought that Nergal employees weren't supposed to be involved in sexual relationships?" Mika said, flipping through a binder of Nergal policies and regulations. Finn and Ryoko both blushed heavily at this remark. 

          "Ours is a…special case," Finn said, fumbling for words. "Who told you this was your room?"

          "Captain Misumaru told me to come here, that there was a vacant cabin," Mika said. "I'm sorry. I was just transferred here, and I have no idea how anything works yet." She handed Finn a piece of paper.

          "This says you're across the hall," Finn said, looking at the note. "406, right there." He motioned to a door with no nameplate on it.

          "Who was that?" Ryoko asked when she and Finn entered their room. "I didn't know whether to hand her a tissue or give her a good slap across the face. You've got an issue, here's a tissue."

          "I ran into her in the hangar when I was checking out Jetstrem. Her name's Mika. She said she was some kind of administrative officer."

          "What exactly is our status with Nergal?" Ryoko asked and she began to undo her uniform jacket.

          "Beats me. My card still works, so they must be paying us something." Finn removed his shirt and made his way to the shower. Even though they shared the same bed, Ryoko's face still turned a slight shade of red upon seeing him like this, and Finn looked about the same when he saw Ryoko come out of the shower with only a towel draped around herself. They were still getting used to each other's presence, not that they minded that much. The scar didn't seem to bother her anymore, and he never mentioned it again since their time on Dusty. It just seemed to be a part of him now. 

          The author would like to point out that the following scene was written more for his own twisted satisfaction than for content. We know return to your regularly scheduled fanfic. 

          'He said it aches, but he never shows it,' Ryoko though curiously. Her mind began to shift gears between that of embarrassed love to an itching curiosity. She moved to the shower door. Inside, she heard the water running, but knew Finn wouldn't be standing under the water yet, because it took a minute or two to warm up. Slowly, she slid the door open just enough for her to see in. Inside, she saw Finn standing in front of the small mirror that hung above the sink clad only in his boxer shorts. He was looking at the backs of his hands. With one finger, he traced the symbol the IFS symbol. He stopped for a moment and looked at himself in the mirror. She could tell exactly what he was looking at, the long jagged line had had been gouged into his body. He touched the front of the scar with his finger, and she could see him wince slightly. For a moment she wondered why he would do this to himself, but she already knew the answer. It was the same feeling you get when you have a scab over a cut. Reason tells you not to touch it, but instinct drives you to touch, poke, and pick at it. Ryoko felt a waft of warm are brush against her face, which told her the shower was hot. Finn turned around and let his hand fall under the steady stream of warm water. 

          "I start charging for this in a minute," he said with a slight laugh. Ryoko, surprised by this, fell forward and onto the bathroom floor.

          "Um…woops," she said as Finn helped her up. She was very red, but then again, Finn wasn't completely without colour himself. She was about to apologize when their eyes found one another. As had happened many times before, their lips drifted towards each other and they were soon engaged in a slow, loving kiss. They broke apart, but no sooner did they separate than they were locked together again. Finn planted gentle kisses down Ryoko's neck. Since her uniform was already partially undone, he slid it back a little further and continued across her shoulders. Ryoko took his hand and led it to her partially exposed breast, while with her other hand, held onto his neck. A slight moan escaped her lips.However…

          "Yo Saotome, Subaru, the Captain wants you on the bridge in a few minutes!" came the irritated yet annoyingly perky voice Kumi. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were busy." The window closed.

          'I'm going…" Ryoko began.

          "…to kill her," Finn finished. Since the mood had already been killed they both took quick showers and changed. "Hey Ryoko, have you seen my notebook?" Finn asked when Ryoko came out of the shower. The sight of her in a towel was a great distraction from his other priorities. Ryoko mock-pouted.

          "Is your notebook more important than this?" She tried not to laugh at her own antics as she struck a very sexy pose and let the towel slide down a little, partially exposing the tops of her breasts. Finn had an idea.

          "Well…" he said, looking around the room. He found his head connecting solidly with a discarded shoe. "I didn't mean it like that," Finn said, laying swirlly eyed on the floor. Ryoko smiled to herself. When she dressed, they both made their way to the bridge. 

When they reached their destination, everyone talked in hushed voices, Megumi and Minato were giggling over something. 'Gee, I wonder what they're talking about,' Finn thought. 

          Ryoko quickly pulled her gun out of its holster and fired forty-eight shots into Kumi's head.

          Finn shook his head and snapped out of that thought. 'I suppose that's too much to hope for.' 

          "What's up?" Finn asked. He and Ryoko had both learned by now to ignore the childish whisperings and gigglings of some of the less mature crew. Ruri sat there with her usual uninterested look.

          "Idiots," she, Finn, and Ryoko said in unison. 

          "Ryoko, Lt. Saotome," Yurika greeted them from the upper bridge. "We're ready to jump to Jupiter." She led them off the bridge and down to the observation deck. The once peaceful and relaxing atmosphere had been transformed into some kind of computer-smelling laboratory. Finn felt hurt by the sight. The tree had been cut back to make way for thick cables that came out of the service ducts and most of the grass had been flattened. Some parts were just bare dirt that had been covered with metal sheets so they wouldn't kick up dust or track dirt everywhere. 

          "This is going to be different than your jump from Mars to the L2 colony," Inez said, getting up from her computer. "Neither the Akito or the Captain have really been to our jump point. We only saw it for a few minutes when…what are you doing Lt. Saotome?" Finn was making the 'shut up' motion and nudged his head in Kumi's direction, who had followed them down. Mika stood there as well, holding onto a binder and looking very nervous, as usual. "Right, Akito and the Captain do not have a very good recollection of that event due to the jump process inside the ship. Therefore, it will be primarily up to you two to make this work. They will act more as stabilizers to ease the stress of the jump off you two, since you've actually seen in detail our destination."

          "Ok, let's get going," Ryoko said as she slipped one of the jumpgloves onto her hand and plugged herself into the jump controller. 

          "This I gotta see," Kumi said to herself as Yurika and Akito took their positions. 

          "Picture Europa and…"        

          "We know the drill," Ryoko said, sounding a tad snappish. They began to glow with their nanomachine circuits. There was a split second where Kumi saw nothing but black. She felt uneasy in this place. In fact it terrified her. She wasn't here, nor there. She was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. When she looked at herself, she saw nothing. It was as though she were floating in some dark abyss. But when she tried to touch her arm, there was nothing. She had no body, just her consciousness floated there in nothing. She was relieved for a second when things returned to normal, that is, until she saw what lay before them. There was the massive ball of gas known as Jupiter right there. Even though they were at a moon's distance, it was still overpowering. The size alone made everyone fall silent for a moment. On their last time here they had been too confused to notice this sight. They could see hurricane-sized storms collide with one another and combine to form even larger storms. They could see the Great Red Spot further down. From pictures taken by satellites didn't do that storm justice. It was beyond what words could describe. It was many times larger than the Earth. 

          "Incredible…" Kumi said, staring outside.

          "Excuse me? Isn't it a little dangerous to be so close?" Mika asked timidly. 

          "Believe it or not, we're over 1 500 000 km away from Jupiter's outer atmosphere," Inez said when they had fully materialized. "This is where Europa used to be…"

          "Used to be?" Kumi interrupted. "How can a moon disappear?" Inez looked at Finn, who shook his head. 

          "In this case, it is possible. That's all you need to know for the moment." 

          "Alright, everyone too your stations," Yurika ordered.

          "Here we go," Finn said.

          …to be continued in Act 7

                        **End of ****Act 6**


	7. Enter the Pilot: Act 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

**Act 7**

**Peace Talks**

          "That does it," Finn said as he pulled his hand out of the IFS socket. 

          "Captain," a vidwindow displaying Ruri's face appeared. "We have successfully completed boson jump to Europa's former coordinates. I am detecting ten heavy warships and fifteen smaller units presumed to be of dimojin or goliath class."         

          "Alright Ruri," Yurika said. "Mika, Inez, you return to the bridge with me. Ryoko, I want you and all the other pilots on standby incase this is a trap."

          "Which it probably is," Finn said to himself as he and the other pilots left the observation deck. 

          "Saotome, wait up," Kumi said as she caught up with Finn and Ryoko. "I just want to ask you one question. What's it like to boson jump?"

          "Well," Finn said. "It's like a new pair of underwear. At first it's strange and confining but then it becomes a part of you." All the pilots sweatdropped.

          "Captain," Ruri said as Yurika came back onto the bridge. "I am detecting more incoming craft. Reading twenty grasshoppers and eighteen spiders."

          "Have they tried to make contact?" 

          "No ma'am," The Nadesico shuddered slightly. "We have just been struck by a gravity blast from one of the warships."

          "Should we return fire?" Minato asked. 

          "Not yet. Megumi, hail the enemy flagship. Ruri, how strong was the gravity blast?" Yurika asked.

"It was a 50% charge blast, Captain. It does not pose any serious risk to us. However, should we be bombarded with blasts of the same intensity our distortion field will begin to fail," Ruri said as Megumi opened the communication channel. 

"Attention, this is Captain Misumaru of the battleship Nadesico hailing all Jovian craft. We are here to conduct peace negotiations, we don't want to fight you." The ship shook slightly again.

"Captain, I'm intercepting a communication signal on 0542 wavelength," Megumi said "Patching communication throught."

"Send the interceptors to the right flank. All dimojin units down the centre. Watch out for their gravitron cannon," a voice said.

"Who is this?" Yurika asked.

"What the…? Who is that?" the voice asked.

"This Captain Misumaru of the Nadesico, we're not here to fight,"

"The Nadesico? Great, as if we didn't have enough to worry about," 

"I'm detecting more ships approaching from starboard. They are of unknown class," Ruri said.

"This is going well," Jun said sarcastically.

"Arm the gravity blast cannon," Yurika ordered. "A low power blast, just enough to blow out their distortion fields. Maybe they'll pull back." 

"The unknown ships are engaging the Jovian forces," Ruri said.

"Say what?" Yurika asked, staring at the monitor as the unknown ships opened fire on the Jovians. The crippled ships of the Jovians didn't stand a chance against the new vessels barrage and, soon after that, they were all destroyed. The new ships held their position when they had defeated them. "Stay on alert."

"In coming transmission from unidentified craft, patching it through now."

"Greetings Nadesico. This is Captain Hibiki of the Division Forces. I apologize for that cowardly attack from the SMFs. I am here to officially welcome you to Division space. We will provide escort while we are en route to Division Headquarters on Ganymede," a man dressed in a white uniform said. His uniform was very similar to Shiratori's, but his had a strange emblem on the right breast, which everyone assumed to be the official Division insignia.

          "Coordinates have been received," Minato said. 

          "Plot course for Ganymede," Yurika ordered. 

          "A small shuttle launched from the Division flagship is requesting boarding clearance," Megumi said. Yurika nodded.

          "I take it there's no fireworks today?" Finn asked, hopping down from the cockpit when he saw Yurika come into the hangar, followed by Hori, Prospector, and Mika. The hangar doors opened and the filtration screen activated. The shuttle passed through the energy screen, designed to keep the air in and maintain pressure in the hangar, and landed in the centre of the massive area. Finn and the other developed cast members made their way to the small reception area that had been hastily prepared. The shuttle's doors slid open and a narrow gangway extended down. Finn drew his gun and aimed at the figures that emerged.

          "Whoa! What's all this about?" Hibiki said, raising his arms.

          "Put it away Lieutenant," Yurika said, irritated. "I apologize. He's been fighting for a long time and gets a little paranoid sometimes." 

          "For good reason," Finn said as he returned his gun to its holster under his arm. He remembered the last time they had tried to negotiate with the Jovians. "I apologize, Captain." 

          "Shiratori," Hibiki said when he saw Shiratori among the welcoming party. "Been a long time."

          "It has," Shiratori said as the two men shook hands. 

          "Please, come this way," Yurika led them away to a conference room. Finn was forced to surrender his sidearm before entering. A 'preventative measure' Yurika called it. 

          'I feel naked without my gun,' Finn thought as he took his seat. Yurika sat at the far left side of the oval and Hibiki and the crewmen he'd brought along sat at the opposite end, with the others taking seats between the two.

          "I officially welcome you to the Nadesico, Captain Hibiki," she said when they had all taken their seats around a large, oval shaped table. "My apologies again for the incident in the hangar. I assure you, we wouldn't want to do anything that might jeopardize the peace talks."

          "Thank you. No hard feelings," Hibiki said. "I'd like to start with a piece of good news. Commander Shiratori of the former Superior Male Forces has been assigned as the official ambassador to the Earth. Since he has traveled with you for some time now, Emperor Kanzaka felt that you would be best suited for the position." 

          "I'm honoured," Shiratori said. "But can I ask you one question?" 

          "Of course," Hibiki said. His smile was somewhat disturbing to some of the more suspicious crewmembers present. 

          'My spider sense is tingling,' Finn thought.

          "Just what happened here?" Shiratori said, referring to the status of the Jovian settlements. "Why were we attacked by our own forces?"

          "There have been several small bands that refused to be integrated into the Division," Hibiki explained. "They are the remnants of the SMF. It's nothing to be concerned about. Most of their forces are survivors of the destruction of Central Command, which means they are very badly damaged."

          "Shouldn't you have given them the option of surrender?" Yurika asked. "It was obvious that they didn't stand a chance."

          "We've tried talking to them, but they're very stubborn. We're working to purge our society of these renegades," Hibiki said.

          'I don't like this,' Finn thought. 'Cleansing is always a bad sign.' Ryoko noticed Finn's discontentment, but nodded slightly in agreement. 

          "That's unfortunate to hear," Shiratori said. "How did the Division establish itself so quickly? After Central Command was destroyed everything must have been in complete chaos."

          "You have to realize that we had to work very fast in order to prevent an all-out panic," Hibiki said. "That is all you need to know, I assure you."

          'AWOOOOGA! AWOOOOGA!' Finn's brain screamed.

          "Anyway, we're working hard to resolve the situation," Hibiki said. "Now, down to business. I trust that you have approval from the Earth government for conducting peace talks?"

          "More or less," Finn said under his breath.

          "Yes, we have. Although they have expressed some concern over certain issues. I have a list of conditions that they feel must be met before a lasting peace is established. But for the time being they have agreed to a ceasefire," Yurika explained, sliding a palmscreen across the table. Hibiki picked it up and went through the UF conditions.

          "These seem agreeable," he said. "But I must warn you that there are many in our society who have negative feelings towards the Earth. It might be difficult for them to accept some of these terms. But I'm sure we can work something out." 

          In the next couple of hours both sides updated one another, more or less, on the state of their societies. Yurika explained that the UF wished to avoid another war, but left out the part about there not being much of a UF to fight one with. Hibiki explained that the Division had established itself quickly in order to prevent chaos after the destruction of Central Command. However, he failed to mention just how they had so many forces already. 

          They soon arrived at an orbital colony above the moon Ganymede. Yurika led a diplomatic team consisting of Hori, Prospector, Akito, and Shiratori. Finn insisted on coming along, but Yurika ordered him to stay on standby. 

          "I don't need you doing something that might jeopardize our mission," she said.

          "But you don't understand, Captain! They're not interested in peace. They only want the Nadesico. Can't you see that?" Finn protested.

          "I realize that there is a very real danger of that," Yurika said. "But I'm afraid I have more faith in the good in people than our own suspicious speculations." 

          "Any luck?" Ryoko asked when she saw Finn emerge from the Captain's readyroom.

          "None," Finn said, and they made their way to the hangar.

"Shiratori, can I ask you a question?" Yurika asked as they took their seats in the shuttle that would take them into the Jovian colony. 

"What's that?"

"Just how do you know this Kanzaka person? When you talked to him it seemed like he knew you," Yurika asked.

"He was my instructor at the academy," Shiratori said. "He was in charge of the potential SMF officers at the Jovian Realm Space Academy."

"That's good. Having a personal connection will make things easier," Yurika said cheerfully.

"Maybe," Shiratori said to himself. 'He may have been my instructor, be he's not the same man I knew,' he thought. 

"Greetings Ambassador Shiratori!" Kanzaka greeted them when they landed in the colony. A red carpet had been laid out and there were guards dressed in formal reception attire, each holding an old fashioned rifle and saluted Kanzaka, who waited at the end of the carpet. He was dressed as one might think of some kind of Latin-American Dictator. He was wearing a navy blue uniform, from which dozens of medals and decorations hung. The shoulders and cuffs had gold material woven into them. "And greetings to you, Captain Misumaru." 

"Thank you," Yurika bowed slightly. 

"Please, come this way," Kanzaka led them out of the hangar.

"Yeah, right into a trap," Finn said from Jetstream's cockpit. 

"What are you listening to?" Ryoko asked from her seat. Finn doubled the window and threw one over to her. 

"I secretly planted a bug on Akito as they were leaving," Finn explained.

"I didn't see you,"

"That's what makes it a secret," Finn opened another window. "Jun, keep the PT engines warm. Don't drop your guard. We're still in enemy territory, don't let them get too chummy."

          "Why?" the ever so ignorant Jun asked.

          "Call it a hunch," Finn closed the window.

"Aren't you being a tad paranoid?" Ryoko asked.

"Remember what happened the last time we tried this?"

"True enough," Ryoko said and they and returned to watching the peace delegation from the bird's eye view of the tiny camera on Akito's shoulder. 

          "I trust you have already spoken to Captain Hibiki?" Kanzaka asked when they were seated at a large table in a massive room. It looked a lot like some kind of trophy room, for there were medals, pictures, and various trophylike items along the paneled walls. 

          "That's correct," Yurika said taking her seat. "I outlined our peace proposal for him."

          "And did he find it appropriate?" Kanzaka asked. 

          "Yes, he seemed to find it quite agreeable," 

          "Then I don't see why these talks shouldn't go smoothly," he said. Yurika placed her documents on the table and passed them across to Kanzaka, who began to read through them. "So your proposal is in a step-by-step process eh?" Interesting."

          "Yes. First I would like to cement the ceasefire until both sides calm down from the chaos this war's brought. The Earth along with its moon and immediate space would be declared a safezone for Earth ships and colonies. The same status would be applied for all territory held by the Division within inhabited space. During this stage, only negotiation ships may move between these areas. No military or civilian ship would be allowed to venture outside its safezone. Mars would be declared a no fly zone. Meaning that neither side would be allowed to lay claim to Mars or start rebuilding. Once both sides had recovered and rebuilt themselves, then Mars would be open to discussion. Under my proposal Mars would be an intermingling zone. Any Division citizens that wished to return to Mars and pick up where their ancestors left off would be welcome to return. However, Earth citizens would also be allowed to return to Mars and rebuild their destroyed colonies. The remains of our existing colonies and would be given to the Earth settlers and untouched land would be given to Division settlers. Each colony would be governed by its own municipal government. The planet would then be run by a board consisting of six Division citizens and six Earth citizens." Yurika explained.

          "What about military activity?" asked Kanzaka.

          "Mars space would be declared neutral. No military presence with exception to a small force on the planet itself in case of civil unrest. Mars would also serve as a boundary. No military vessels would be permitted within one million kilometres of the planet or its orbital path," Yurika explained. Outposts would be built on either side of the border to act as…kind of like a customs and immigration office, to make sure that these laws are enforced."

          The explanations and negotiations continued for several more hours. 

          "Finn, wake up." Ryoko nudged him awake. "They're starting to wrap it up."

          "Anything happened? I didn't hear any shots fired yet." Finn said as he came out of his state of semisleep. 

          "Not that I've heard. They seem to be getting along." 

          "Damn," Finn said and watched as the delegation began to wrap up its first day.

          "Maybe they really are interested in peace?" Ryoko suggested. "You could just be over paranoid."

          "Nu uh. Something's up. It's too good to be true," Finn said.

          "Which means it probably is," Ryoko concluded.

          "Exactly. They're planning something. I just don't have anything to prove it." A few minutes later they saw the shuttle return on their monitors. The cockpit was armoured heavily and was not made of transparent materials. The inside of the cockpit was lined with monitors that gave you a sense of actually floating out in the battle. However, when their minds were linked it didn't really matter what their eyes saw, everything was sent right to the brain. "Now I'll have to rebug Tenkawa next time they go out." They opened the cockpit hatch and climbed out. The brightly lit hangar was an uncomfortable transition from the dim cockpit and they both shielded their eyes. Jun had come down from the bridge to welcome them back.

          "How'd it go?" he asked when Yurika came down the gangway.

          "It was great! I really think they're interested in a lasting peace," Yurika said.

          "Just remember, Captain," Finn said from a slight distance. "Don't drop your guard. It's not too late for them to pull something. They could just be waiting for an opportunity."

          "Don't be so suspicious," Yurika said. "This is exactly why I didn't bring you along." Finn slapped Akito on the back and used that distraction to quickly remove the bug for later use. He saw Kumi approaching along with some other crewmembers.

          "We just wouldn't want anything to happen to our wing commander, right?" Finn said in a tone of voice that seemed to grate on Kumi's nerves. 

The next few days passed in a similar manner. Yurika and her delegation went over to the colony to talk with Kanzaka, while Finn and Ryoko sat in Jetstream on 'standby' watching what was going on. It wasn't until the fifth day, when these initial talks were beginning to wrap up, that something happened to add to Finn's suspicion. For the past few days a Division shuttle escorted the delegation back to the Nadesico. The first time it stopped when the Nadesico's shuttle returned and flew back to the colony. However, on the second day, it actually entered the hangar. It had been doing so for the past couple of days. So far there had been no incident, but something didn't add up. 

          "Are you armed?" Finn asked when both shuttles entered the hangar and landed in their usual places. Ryoko nodded. "It's now or never."

          "Thank you for escorting us back personally, Emperor Kanzaka," Yurika said with a bow. Kanzaka had come back with them this time. 

          "It was my pleasure, Captain. I'm sure our paths will cross in the future," Kanzaka said. "Well, I must be off now. Be sure to talk with your superiors and tell them what we've worked out."

          "I'll do that as soon as we disembark," Yurika said as they shook hands. Kanzaka went back into his shuttle and they soon departed.

          "You've gotta be kidding me," Finn said when they blastdoors of the hangar slid shut.

          "You sound like your disappointed," Ryoko said, clicking the safety back on. "I know you don't believe this theory, but maybe they're telling the truth."

          "Maybe," Finn said, returning his gun to its holster. "I don't know. This isn't what I expected. They've totally blown my plan out of the water and now I don't know what to expect," Finn replied. 'This is so unusual,' he thought. 'I was sure they'd try something. It was the perfect opportunity. They could have taken the ship easily. So why didn't they take that chance? Something doesn't add up here.'

          "Remember, the average Jovian isn't all that bad," Ryoko said. "Remember staying with Mr. Noda and Yu? They seemed like decent people."

          "That's true. The average citizen's not half bad. But these cornpops they have for officials…" Finn trailed off. "It reminds me a lot of the communist governments they had back in the 20th century. Officially everything goes hunky-dory, but talk to the average guy and he lives in fear. Human history tends to repeat itself, and so far things seem to have worked out ok. But I wouldn't drop your guard yet."

          "I think you've been in the library too much," Ryoko said. Finn was about to protest, but stopped himself before he said anything stupid. "Come on, let's get out of here." They climbed out of the cockpit and made their way to the bridge. Just as with every other time, they were blinded by the bright lights. 

          "Can't…see…must…talk…like…this," Finn said as the intensely bright light poured into his poor retinas.

**Conspiracy Theory**

          There was a kind of celebration going on the bridge when they arrived. Someone handed Finn a glass of some alcoholic persuasion. Finn took a sip.

          "This coke's gone bad," he said handing it back. He looked over at Ruri and saw a party had on her head. "Not you too."

          "Don't even look to me," Ruri said.

          "We're not celebrating a little prematurely, are we Captain?" Finn asked Yurika.

          "Take that broomstick out of your afterburner, Saotome. Lighten up!" Yurika said.

          "Oh great, she's drunk."

          "Idiots," he, Ryoko, and Ruri said in unison. 

          "Kanzaka gave us a few bottles of champagne to celebrate," Yurika said, taking another sip.

          "Let me guess, you think it's poisoned?" Ryoko said.

          "That's the first thing that came to mind," Finn said, grabbing a glass from the table.

"What is it, almond scented or something?"  Ryoko asked.

"Seems ok to me," he said, taking a small taste.

          "Come on, have a drink!" Jun said.

          "I'd rather not," Finn said, remembering his last experience involving alcohol. 

          The party continued for some time. It was midnight before things started to wrap up. Ryoko halfheartedly joined in, succumbing slightly to the insistent Hikaru and the undead Izumi. Finn sat by Ruri and they spent the night making the odd comment here and there.  

          "I don't know. Maybe I am being paranoid," Finn said.

          "You're suspicions are well founded. You have every reason to believe Kanzaka is planning something," Ruri said. "I think the Captain has been blinded by the light of what seems like success. She's not taking into consideration what happened the last time."

          "But then why hasn't he made his move? He had the perfect opportunity to try something earlier when the Captain came back. If I were planning something I'd have seized that opportunity." Something in Finn's back popped from having sat there for so long. Just then, he quickly looked to the upper bridge and saw Yurika pestering Akito and Jun asleep in his chair. There were over a dozen empty bottles on the floor. He then looked across to the wide area on the lower bridge, where Izumi was staring off into space while Hikaru and Seiya talked. Then he looked at Ruri's screens and saw a small red ping on the scanner window. "Oh no…oh no, oh no, oh no." He bolted up. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew they'd try something like this. Attention! We've got a problem here, Captain!" he shouted, but was out gunned by the sounds of the party. He ran down and grabbed Hikaru by the shoulders. "Hikaru?"

          "Wazzat?" she asked. 

          "Oh…shit…" Finn looked around. "Ruri, see if you can get their attention." Ruri nodded and opened fifty vidwindows around the bridge.

          "Attention. You're attention please," her voice boomed over the speakers. Everyone cheered at seeing cute little Ruri finally say something. Finn spotted Ryoko on the fringe of a small group that had gathered by the lower bridge entrance. He bolted for the door and grabbed her arm on the way by.

          "Something wrong?" Ryoko asked when she finally got to her legs, as opposed to being half dragged down the corridor by Finn.

          "Wrong doesn't even begin to describe it," Finn replied, releasing her as he skidded around a corner. "How much…"

          "Don't worry. I've been nursing the same glass all night," Ryoko interrupted him. "I take it you're conspiracy theory's come true?"

          "You could say that." As they burst into the hangar, the Nadesico shuddered under the advanced barrage of gravity blasts. They were fired from a distance, so they did little more than cause the ship to shake a slightly. There were a few maintenance crewmen loitering by the vending machines.

          "Something wrong, Saotome?" one of them asked.

          "You could say that," Finn said as he leapt up the ladder and into his seat in Jetstream and fastened the restraints. Ryoko followed a second later and they both slipped on their interface gloves and started the PT engine. 

"You don't think we're over reacting here, do you?" Finn asked.

          "Nah, I think this is pretty much what any of us would do while sober," Ryoko answered. "Come on, let's get out there. Maybe we can scare them off." They connected themselves to the IFS and activated the dual pilot system. Soon after they had burst from the hangar and flew straight towards the enemy armada. 'Maybe we should try talking to them first?' 

          'Good idea,' Finn replied. 

          "Division forces, this is Jetstream of the Nadesico, please respond," they said in sync with one another. The man on the receiving end of the transmission wasn't sure if he heard that quite right. It sounded like two people talking in unison. "We just have one question for you, what the hell are you doing?!" 

          "Sir, I'm receiving a transmission from somewhere. It's on the Nadesico's wavelength, but I don't have a location," the officer informed his captain.

          "Put it through," the captain said.

          "Just what do you think you're doing?" Finn and Ryoko demanded.

          "Who is this?" the Captain demanded.

          "This is Jetstream. Now you answer my question. What are you doing? We had a ceasefire."

          "On Emperor Kanzaka's orders, we are to seize the battleship Nadesico," the captain replied. "And we will take it by force if we have to."

          'Well, we tried,' Ryoko thought.

          "Any resistance will be considered an act of war," the captain continued. "Surrender your craft."

          'Time for the big guns,' Finn thought and Jetstream's cannons flipped forward.

          'Make it a low power shot. They might just retreat if we rough them up a little,' Ryoko added.

          "We give you one last chance to stop this before we open fire. Stand down and retreat," they said. The cannons glowed slightly as they built up power. "We don't want these past few days to be for nothing."

          "You are an honourable soldier," the captain said. "But I have my orders. Now surrender yourself."

          "No can do."

          'Wait until they make the first move,' Finn thought.

          'Right,' Ryoko answered, hearing his mind.

          "They're resisting. Open fire, but be careful not to hit the Nadesico too badly. We want to take her intact. Ramjet drones advance. Demolisher robots, stay behind the ramjet missile screen. Don't let them lure you out of formation," the captain said and the armada opened fire. Small grasshopperlike robots advanced. They didn't look like grasshoppers, but small, sleek robots roughly the size of a VW Bug that transformed between fighter and robot modes. Some of them even detached from the larger manned robots and joined the others. (Think the air defence team minicons)

          "Fire!" Finn and Ryoko said and a wave of destructive blue energy erupted from cannons. The advanced drone squadrons were vaporized, but the larger robots and the battleships remained intact. The armada's blasts bounced off the small energy hexagons that made up Jetstream's distortion field. They cranked the engines to full and thrust into the cloud of ships. Missiles and gravity blasts buzzed by the sleek fighter as it weaved in and out of formations.

          "They're too fast, Captain. The targeting computer can't get a solid lock on them."

          "Convert the ramjets to robot mode, have them swarm the enemy by holding onto it," the captain ordered. The ramjet drones performed a simple transformation sequence. The engines detached from the fuselage to form the legs, and the nose split in two to form a pair of arms. Hundreds of these small robots formed large swarms and threw themselves at Jetstream and clung to it.

          'What the hell are these things?' Finn asked.

          'Must be some kind of new bug, bank right!' Ryoko answered and they narrowly missed another cloud of drones. 'We can't keep this pace up,'

          'I've got an idea,' Finn sand and they turned the frame around and dove back into the fleet of battleships. 

          'Are you nuts!?' Ryoko asked as the frame moved on a collision course with one of the ships. Jetstream slammed into the distortion field of the battleship, but kept on going. They made a clean hole straight through. The frame sparked slightly at the sudden increase of power from the Division ship's distortion field flowing through the exterior frame.

          "Damnit, they're using our own contortion buffers against us," the captain said and watched as the energy from the distortion field surged into the frame. The ramjets were flung off, as though they were holding onto a bug zapper. 

          "They're still moving too fast, Captain," Jetstream fired another blast, destroying another group of drones. 

          "Fire cannons at their predicted grid points," the captain ordered.

          'Ouch,' Finn thought as they were struck by one of these predicted shots. 'They're onto us. I think it's time to turn it up a notch.' Jetstream transformed into robot mode, the cannons flipping back against the shoulders. The robot pulled off its left wing, which unfolded into a long sword, glowing slightly as it was charged with PT energy. The right wing remained intact, but separated and attached onto the left arm to serve as a shield. The Jovians stared at the sight before them. However, the quiet did not last long as Jetstream sprang forward and severed the head of a demolisher robot. When it leapt off the exploding body of its first victim, Jetsream went for another. However, before it could get there, the target thrust away at an amazing speed. 

          'They're faster than they used to be,' Ryoko thought as they slashed at another one, but it flew back, just out of the sword's reach. 

          "Ruri, we need some backup. How're things going on your end?" they asked.

          "Most of the crew has gone to bed," Ruri said. "I've tried to wake them but half of them aren't responsive."

          "What about the other half?"

          "They're not combat personnel," Ruri answered. 

          "Well, then at least give us some missile cover here!" they cried dodging microgravity blasts from the demolishers, which looked a lot like the old ACF, except they were painted a dark grey and lacked the shoulder cannon. It looked like some dimojin/ACF hybrid. Each one held a pretty intimidating gravity blast gun.

          'They must have copied the outside structural design,' Finn thought as Jetstream was hit by a microgravity blast. They grabbed the demolisher by the head and severed the torso, before flying away. The ramjets seemed to be firing an infinite supply of missiles at them. One narrowly missed Jetstream and ended up hitting a demolisher. The large area suddenly exploded, as though someone had fired the PT cannon.

          "Ruri, was that you?"

          "That wasn't me," Ruri answered. The Nadesico fired a gravity blast into the fleet and destroyed two ships, while damaging another three. Another missile flew towards them and struck the distortion field and, again, the whole area exploded in a blinding flash.

          'They're using nuclear weapons?! At this range?!' Finn asked as the computer fed the information right into his brain.

          'Another one!' Ryoko banked the frame left to avoid another swarm of missiles flew by them. 'Wait a sec,' Ryoko thought, taking a look around. 'Check this out,' she passed the data along to Finn.

          'They're not firing new missiles. The old missiles turn around and keep trying to hit us. Some kind of homing device.' They fired the arm-mounted machine guns and opened fire on the little drones. The first few rounds bounced off their distortion fields, but the continuing onslaught shattered their fields and they blew to pieces. However, for every one they destroyed six more took its place. Jetstream shuddered again and they were both blinded slightly by another flash from a nuclear explosion. 'How long do you think we can keep this up?' Jetstream caught up to another demolisher and sliced it in two, but not without consequence. Just before the blow, the robot overloaded its gravity blast cannon and exploded at point blank. 

          'Not much longer at this rate,' Ryoko answered. 'We're outgunned and out numbered. If you're going to pull a victory out of your ass you might want to do it now.'

          "Ruri, how much of the Nadesico can be controlled from your station?" they asked.

          "I have 62% of the ships functions operable to me," Ruri answered.

          "Can you steer it?"

          "Yes."

          "Good, we're bugging out, prepare to fire PT cannon and get ready to pull out of here." 

          "Negative. Without the Captain's authorization I cannot fire the PT cannon. The system won't work unless it gets approval from the Captain." 

          "Ain't that just prime," they said and transformed back to fighter mode. In this mode they were many times faster and could evade enemy attacks easier. However, they couldn't attack as well as they could in robot mode. 

          'The best we can do is keep them busy,' Ryoko thought.

          'True, but we can't keep this pace up forever,' Finn replied. Just then, a massive barrage of gravity blasts flew into the fleet of ships, destroying a few of them, but leaving most of the fleet with minimal damage. 

          "Ruri, was that you?"

          "Negative. I am detecting a small group of ships approaching of the port stern," Ruri answered. 

          "Reinforcements? There's no way the Cosmos could get out here that fast."

          "It's not the Cosmos, or any of our ships. It appears to be a small group of Jovian rebels. They have launched grasshoppers and have engaged the enemy," Ruri said. "I have received a transmission from the rebel flagship. Patching it through now."

          "Attention Nadesico. We are the Jovian Alliance, remnants of the former Superior Male Forces. We have come to assist you in your escape from Division space," the message said.

          "I guess we don't need to tell you to accept his invitation and get us the hell out of here," Finn and Ryoko said in their somewhat creepy voiceover way. Grasshoppers and ramjets were exchanging missile fire. Unfortunately for them, the ramjets were faster and had little trouble blowing the grasshoppers out of the sky. Ruri moved the Nadesico into position with the Jovian forces and they began to move away from the battle. "Time to go." They transformed back to robot mode and managed to grab one of the enemy missiles out of the sky. "I think a near-miss deserves a near missile!" Quickly, they threw it into the front of the Division armada and it exploded on contact with their distortion field. A blinding flash streamed into the Division ship's command centres. Jetstream transformed back to fighter, cranked up its boosters, and soon joined the Nadesico.

**Unusual Allies**

          "I give us two minutes before they recover from that one," Finn said as he jumped down from the cockpit and onto the hangar floor. "Ruri, will we be out of their scanner range in time?"

          "Yes. All the Jovian ships escorting us are powered by PT engines. We will be far out of their range by that time," Ruri replied. 

          "Just where are we going anyway?" Ryoko asked.

          "We are headed to a rendezvous point somewhere in the asteroid belt. That's all the instruction they gave me," Ruri replied. Finn and Ryoko made their way to the bridge.

          "Open a communication channel to the Jovian flagship," Finn said, standing on the upper bridge at the Captain's consol.

          "Roger, Captain," Ruri said with the faintest sign of a smile.

          "Hello Nadesico. This is Commander Ray of the Jovian Alliance. Greetings, Captain," the man on the other end of the transmission said.

          "I'm not really the Captain," Finn said. 

          "Where is he?"

          "She's currently…unavailable. I guess I am the commanding officer at the moment, I think," Finn said. "I am Lt. Saotome. Where are we going?"

          "We're currently headed to join the remainder of my group's forces. After that, we'll receive further orders. Just keep the current course plotted and we'll explain in depth what's going on when we get there."

          "Right." The transmission ended and the window closed. "Not much, but I guess it'll do for now."

          "I think we should try and wake the Captain up now," Ryoko said.

          "Good idea. Ruri, can you handle things up here?" 

          "Yes, sir," Ruri said and Finn and Ryoko left in the direction of Yurika's quarters. 

          "I guess I should congratulate you on being right," Ryoko said in a somewhat sarcastic voice.

          "Believe me, this is one of those times when I hate being right," Finn replied. "I should have seen this coming. It was so obvious!"

          "If you start blaming yourself for this I'm going to have to rearrange your face," Ryoko said, forming a fist. 

          "But at least we made it with our hides in one piece. I guess we owe the Jovians one." They stopped outside a door that had Yurika's name engraved on the nameplate. There was something hanging from it though. "What have we here?" he picked up the object in question. 'A black bra!'

          "Wait a sec…" Ryoko looked up the hall they had just come from. There were miscellaneous articles of clothing in a trail that led to the door. Some belonged to a female crewmember, while others belonged to a certain pilot in a cook's uniform.

          "Wow, she's bigger than I thought," Finn said offhandedly, holding the bra up a little. He soon found his face embedded in the wall opposite the door. "Very…educational," came a muffled voice.

          "Captain!" Ryoko banged on the door. "Captain, wake up!"

          "Want me to take the door out?" Finn asked, not really meaning what he said. Another Finn-shaped impression was made in the wall. "I'll be good."

          "I've got an idea," Ryoko opened a vidwindow inside the Captain's quarters and switched it to audio only. She took a deep breath and… "Captain, wake up!!"

          "One more time, Akito," came the mumbled reply.

          "I hope she's talking in her sleep," they both sweatdropped. 

          "Something wrong?" Someone asked from behind them. They both turned around. "What's up?" 

          "What the…?" Ryoko asked when she saw Kumi standing there. Finn grabbed his pen from his breast pocket and drew a line down the centre of the floor. He moved Kumi over to one end of the line.

          "Walk down this line while counting to ten," Finn said, giving her a little push.

          "What the hell are you babbling about?"

          "Well, I guess she's not wasted," Finn said.

          "Just what is going on here?" Kumi demanded.

          'Come to think of it,' Finn thought. 'I don't remember seeing her at the party.'

          "Wait a sec, if you're not piss-drunk like the rest of them, why weren't you in the battle like you were supposed to?" Ryoko demanded.

          "I thought it was just people running up and down the halls. It was pretty wild around here," Kumi answered.

          'Oh come on. You could at least try to lie here. Put some effort into it!' Finn bit his tongue and kept quiet. Ryoko was about to give Kumi a taste of what happens when people piss her off, but Finn nudged her and shook his head. "We're trying to get the Captain up."

          "Don't count on it. I was out here at the vending machines getting a pop while those two were at it. It was like listening to a porno movie or something," Kumi said. "But if you want to get her up, stand aside." Kumi moved over to the vidwindow. "Ooohhhh," She said in 'that' kind of way. "Ooohhhh yes. Ooohhh, it feels so good, Akito." 

          "WHAT!?" came the shriek from the other end of the window.

          "And there you have it," Kumi said.  

           "An original idea, I'll give you that," Finn said.

          "Are you awake, Captain?" Ryoko asked.

          "Whaz going on?" came another voice from the other side of the window. "What the…uh oh…"

          "Well, I guess that answers _that_ question," Finn said.

          "We need you on the bridge, Captain," Ryoko said. 

          "Alright, what's going on?" Yurika asked as she came onto the bridge. Her eyes were red, her hair was in disarray, and her head was beginning to feel the after effects of the party. "This had better be good." Akito was also present and in a similar state. Finn and collected their clothes from the hallway and left them in a pile in front of Yurika's door so the two of them could get dressed.

          "Ruri?" Finn asked and she displayed an image of the battle group they were in.

          "What's going on here? Did I have too many vodka shooters?" Akito asked.

          "It's no joke. During the later half of your little celebration, Division forces attacked the Nadesico. Ryoko and I managed to hold them off for a while, but the Jovian SMF bailed our asses out of the fire," Finn explained.

          "We're currently en route to the asteroid belt, where we will meet up with other SMF, now called Jovian Alliance, ships," Ruri added. 

          "Just what does all this mean?" Yurika asked, still not fully regained her senses.

          "Basically Kanzaka tried to blow us out of the sky, and your peace treaty along with it," Ryoko said.

          "But how did we escape? Surely if the Division's technology is that advanced as to give you two in Jetstream trouble, they could easily have caught up with us. I don't get it," Yurika said.

          "We don't know why, but maybe we'll find out when we get to the asteroid belt," Finn said. "When will we arrive, Ruri?"

          "It will take 11 days and four hours at our current speed," Ruri replied.

          "Where are you going?" Ryoko asked as Yurika made her way to the exit.

          "I'm going back to bed," Yurika answered as the doors slid shut behind her. Everyone looked at Akito.

          "What are you all staring at?" Akito demanded. Finn was about to make a smartass comment, but he held it back.

          "Idiots," Ruri said and put the Nadesico on autopilot, giving them the opportunity to head to their respective rooms to get some sleep. 

The next few days were spent getting the Nadesico back into a wartime state of readiness, since during the duration of the peace talks the maintenance crew had been somewhat neglectful of their duties. 

          "So these are the new fighters?" Akito asked when Finn showed the crewmembers some still images of the Division fighters Jetstream had taken during the battle. 

          "The smaller ones are drone fighters called ramjets," Inez explained, appearing out of nowhere. "From the data collected by Jetstream and the Nadesico's sensors during the battle, it would appear that the Division has rebuilt and modified on old technology used by the former Superior Male Forces. The larger robots are called demolishers, which appear to be dimojin based machines using borrowed exterior structural schematics from the ACF."

          "But one thing doesn't add up," Finn said. "Why didn't they come after us? They could have easily destroyed the Nadesico if they wanted to," said Finn.

          "That's because they didn't want to destroy us," Inez answered. "They wanted to take the ship."

          "Why?" Kumi asked.

          "They don't have phase transition engines," Finn concluded.

          "Exactly right," Inez said. "There's no sign of the residual particles generated by phase transition reactions from the readings. But why they don't have PT engines in their ships remains a mystery."

          "I believe I can answer that one," Shiratori said. "The artifact that we used to built phase transition power cores was destroyed along with Central Command. We had no way of manufacturing them until we found that."

          "But didn't you make more PT engine plants?" Finn asked.

          "No, we didn't."

          "Pretty stupid thing to do," Ryoko said. "But I guess it does explain why the Division doesn't have them."

          "Exactly. Their ships must be powered by some kind of fuel cell, or possibly nuclear reactors," Inez explained.

          "Could they have somehow copied the gravitron feed system?" Finn asked. "It would make sense, and might explain why the demolishers didn't get that close to the Nadesico."

          "There isn't enough data to prove or disprove that theory," Inez said.

          "Attention all combat personnel. Report to your designated stations. All pilots report to the bridge for briefing., Megumi's voice said over the comlink.

          "What's going on?" Akito asked when they got to the bridge.

          "We have detected a small fleet of Division vessels blocking our path. We have received instructions from our escorts to hold our current position and take them out," Yurika said. "The Jovians will provide support while our aestivalis wing takes out the Division flagship. Ryoko, you and Lt. Saotome will be on a seek-and-destroy status. You're to maintain spatial supremacy while this mission is carried out."

          "Couldn't we just blow them away with the PT cannon?" Finn asked.

          "Negative. Using the PT cannon would alert the Division where we are and possibly give them the approximate coordinates of our destination. Commander Ray has informed me that in order to avoid detection, we have to make this look like a guerilla attack by the Jovian Alliance," Yurika said. 

          "Excuse me," came the meek and timid voice of Mika. "Couldn't we use Jetstream's main cannon? Its energy signature wouldn't match any of the Division's records."

          "Saotome, can it be done?"

          "I don't know. We've never really tested the cannons, only in simulations, and at low power in actual combat. A full charge might cause damage to its systems if we fire." Finn answered. "Personally, I'd like to avoid using it until we have no choice. Remember what happened the last time I tried firing one of those things?"

          "Good point. I'm afraid we're going to have to stick to the original plan," Yurika said. "Dismissed."

          "What was Shiratori talking about, when Central Command was destroyed?" Kumi asked the other pilots as they made their way to the hangar. "Just what happened on Mars anyway?" Everyone looked at Finn.

          "What?" Finn asked. "Well, I guess it is technically my fault. But still."

          "What are you yabbering about?" Kumi asked. Finn looked at Ryoko, who looked back at him, who looked at Akito, who looked at Hikaru, and so on. 

          "Is that what Fortress Magnum did?" came Mika's voice. Apparently she had been following them and no one had noticed. "I'm sorry. I was looking up pay records and stumbled across a video log of something by that name."

          "Fortress Magnum? What the hell is she talking about?" Kumi stood in the way with her arms crossed. "Alright, spill it. What's going on around here? Something's up and I want to know what it is." The alarm sounded once, telling them that they were to launch immediately.

          "I'll tell you later," Finn said and they continued on their way and were soon joining the Jovian dimojin and grasshopper units. Akito led the way, with Hikaru and Izumi on his left wing and Kumi on his right. Finn and Ryoko brought up the rear. 

          "Remember, you have to completely destroy the Division battle group. Don't leave any stragglers that might give away our position," Yurika said and closed her vidwindow.

          'Do you get the idea that Mika girl's hiding something?' Ryoko asked Finn as they moved towards the battle group, still outside of their detection range.

          'By all appearances, that's what it seems like. Why would Fort Mag show up in a payroll file?' 

          'She could be spying for Akatsuki or the UF,' Ryoko suggested.

          'Could be.'

          "We're almost within detection range," A Jovian commander in a dimojin said. "Prepare for high-speed attack. Now!" 

The grasshoppers suddenly burst forward and fired a shower of missiles at the Division ships, which consisted of two heavy battleships, four light cruisers, a wing of demolishers and two squadrons of ramjets. "Good hunting," His dimojin fired a gravity blast and lumbered forward as fast as a clunky dimojin would go. Finn and Ryoko hit the boosters and unleashed a torrent of missiles that shattered the distortion field of one of the battleships. The demolishers armed their guns and began to join the ramjets to intercept them. Jetstream blew right by them and made a wide turn back to engage them. Transforming into robot mode, it grabbed one by the leg and tried to slice it in half. However, the blade hit something before making contact with the demolisher's armour.

          "It's not going to be that easy, you two," Inez said. "It appears that these demolishers have upgraded distortion fields. The ones you faced before must have been first production models with weak fields. These ones, however, are projecting a barrier relatively equal to that of an aestivalis." 

          'Time for some damage then,' Ryoko thought and they brought the sword down on the demolisher. They fired rounds from the arm's guns at point blank into the robot, which quickly weakened its distortion field enough for the blade to slice through. The demolisher stopped moving and a small explosion blew it apart. 

          'These guys aren't so tough,' Finn thought.

          'Yeah, but there's a lot more of them,' Ryoko warned. Jetstream shuddered under the intensity of a gravity blast from one of the Division battleships. Jetstream jumped off the remains of the destroyed demolisher and flew in a complex series of maneuvers to the ships. Their close range guns fired a barrage of fire at them, but with their enhanced reaction time in the dual pilot system, Finn and Ryoko evaded them easily, and whatever hits managed to strike them were deflected of their distortion field. They ran the sword along the side of the ships distortion field, searching for that fatal angle what would interfere with the field. Sparks sprayed from the blade's tip due to the friction between it and the field. There was a slight tug as the blade sank into the field's weak-spot. Quickly, they gouged out a hole in the side and punched both fists through the inner plating and fired their guns until they hit whatever was powering the ship. Bullets ripped through the ship and tore it to pieces. They were engulfed in a bright flash of light when they finally struck the power source. 'Oh…'

          'shit…' Finn finished. They could see nothing but white as the ship erupted in a giant fireball. To Finn and Ryoko it felt as though they were caught in a tidal wave. The force of the blast threw them about and nearly tore them to pieces. Several similar explosions followed, but they were with less intensity. The fighting seemed to stop for a moment as everyone watched the fireworks.

          "Congratulations, you just destroyed half of the grasshopper squadron that was supposed to be assisting us!" Kumi said.

          "What?" Finn and Ryoko asked.

          "And if you're not too busy, we could use some help!" Akito added. Finn and Ryoko looked around and saw that their side wasn't fairing too well. The enemy flagship had been destroyed and several ramjets had blown up in the process, but the grasshopper squadron had been halved. The aestivalis and dimojins would have been destroyed had their distortion fields not been strong enough to weather the blast. However, the other enemy ships only sustained moderate damage and were still firing at Akito's team, which was struggling. "No, Izumi. Not that way. Go right!" Akito tired to organize his wing, but could not do so without getting distracted himself. 

          "Here we go," they said and armed the main cannons to fire small blasts to help clear the enemy fighters. Their blasts deflected off the demolishers' fields, but managed to break through the tiny ramjets. "Stay back from those ramjets when they blow. They've got armed nukes on them," they said as several tiny ramjets exploded in giant waves of light. The shockwaves produced by these explosions tossed them about like toys. 

          "This isn't getting us anywhere," Akito said, a small dribble of blood running down the side of his face from where it had slammed into the control console. 

          "Nadesico fighters, what's wrong?" the dimojin leader asked.

          "It's nothing," Finn and Ryoko , knowing perfectly well what was wrong. But they didn't have time to think of that right now. There were more important things to worry about. "Nadesico, fire a gravity blast at cruiser 2. Its shields are weak." Yurika complied with this suggestion and fired a gravity blast at the weakened ship. "Wait till we get out of the way!!!!!" A moment later, the ship exploded in a similar display of fireworks as the first one had. 

          "I'm detecting abnormal radiation levels," Ruri reported.

          "That means that those ships must be powered by nuclear reactors," Yurika concluded. "All pilots, exercise extreme caution. Those ships are nuclear driven."

          "Now you tell us," Finn and Ryoko said, exchanging fire with a demolisher.

          'Wait a sec, I've got an idea. Ryoko, I'm going to drop the distortion field.' Finn said to her.

          'You're going to do what?!'

          'Trust me,' He cranked the distortion field to full and they grabbed onto their opponent. He then dropped the field and they fired their guns into its chest, which burst clean through the other side of its armour.

          'Isn't that a tad risky?

          "It would appear that Jetstream used its own distortion field to act as a cancellation mechanism. By having two distortion fields operate so close together, by adding more force to one field will cancel the other out," Inez explained. 

          "Very good, doctor," Finn and Ryoko said. 

Ruri's logs:

                    _Our first battle did not end as well as we would have liked it to._

We inadvertently caused the destruction of almost half our ally's, forces. Fortunately there were only minor injuries and no deaths. Our aestivalis wing struggled and could not seem to organize into the effective fighting force it had been under Pilot Subaru's command. However, after almost two hours of fighting, we proved victorious and the space was cleared of enemy presence.

"Ugh," Finn said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the vending machine. "That could have gone better."

          "It was pathetic," Ryoko added.

          "What are you complaining about?" Kumi demanded. "At least we didn't blow up or own troops."

          "That was an accident," Finn retorted. "And we managed to get rid of an enemy battleship without causing any serious injuries." Akito was carried off in a stretcher. "Ok, with one injury. What happened to space cook anyway?"

          "He hit his head on the console when the first ship blew," Hikaru said. "I guess that was kind of your fault."

          "But what about you guys?" Ryoko asked. "What was going on? You didn't seem to have any strategy."

          "Um yeah…Akito's not as great a wing commander as you are," Hikaro replied. "I guess we need to spend some time in the simulator."

          "It's all Subaru's fault," Kumi said. "If she were still commander we wouldn't have sucked so badly."

          "We wouldn't have Finn or Jetstream if I did," Ryoko shot back.

          "No loss. You two cause more damage than the enemy."

          "In with the good air, out with the bad air. In with the good air, out with the bad air," Chibi Good Ryoko said, standing on her shoulder.

          "Guys, mellow out," Hikaru said.

          "Stay out of this," Ryoko and Kumi snapped. 

          'This isn't going to be pretty,' Finn thought.

          The next few days were passed running combat simulations and training Akito to be a leader instead of a mere soldier. He had recovered from his injury, which required a few stitches and an icepack and tried to avoid Yurika 'nursing him back to health'. They had now entered the outer fringe of the asteroid belt and had to keep the distortion field at full strength to avoid any damage caused by flying space rock. 

          "We are approaching our destination, Captain," Ruri said. The combat crew had assembled on the bridge. 

          "Nadesico, please dock with the colony at coordinates 452," Commander Ray said from his ship.

          "I don't see a colony," Yurika said, looking at the asteroids. 

          "It's right in front of you," One of the larger asteroids rotated slightly, revealing a small section exposed. "The colony is built into that asteroid. Just follow us." They followed the Jovian flagship into the hangar, while the rest of the group stayed outside. When the hangar doors shut, Ray instructed them to come down onto the floor and meet with the other Jovian Alliance commanders that had already assembled. 

          "Does the Division know about this place?" Yurika asked as she stepped off the gangway and onto the floor.

          "No. This is an old mining station. The Division thinks it's been abandoned for years," Ray replied. "Now, I'd like you to meet Commander Hashima."

          "Hashima?" Finn asked himself, the bells ringing and the rusty gears started to move.

          "Hello, Captain Misumaru," an all-too familiar voice said. Finn's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. 

          "What's wrong with you now?" Ryoko asked quietly. Finn shielded his face nudged his head towards Hashima. "Uh oh…"

          "Now I'd like you to meet my crew," Yurika said.

          'Awwwwww shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit,' Finn thought.

          "This is Minato Haruka, helmswoman. Megumi Reinaid , communication officer. Ruri, Hashino, science officer. Akito Tenkawa, wing commander. Hikaru Amano, Izumi Maki, and Kumi Kato, pilots under his command." Yurika said. "And these two are Ryoko Subaru and Lt. Finn Saotome, pilots of our dual fighter," Yurika said. 

          "Yes, I am already familiar with you and your crew, Captain," Hashima said. "Isn't that right, Saotome?"

          "Crap," Finn said to himself. "Yeah, hey Sanoske."

          "It's Sakura Hashima now. I don't need to hide anymore now that, if you'll pardon the expression, shit's hit the fan. Although I was detained for a few days after you exposed me. I should like a private word with you sometime soon," Sakura said. Finn made some kind of 'gulp' noise. "Please, all of you come this way." She led Finn, Ryoko, Yurika, Akito, Prospector, Hori, Inez, Shiratori, and Mika (who had appeared out of nowhere) out of the hangar and down a long, narrow corridor. "Please forgive the accommodations. We've had to work quickly and haven't had time to put in any fine touches. Here we are." She led them into a wide room that had been hastily prepared as some kind of base of operations. There were monitors and consoles in every corner and there was cable running all over the floors. "Welcome to our secret command post."

          "Just how did you manage to get this set up so quickly? It's only been about a month since the Mars incident," Yurika said.

          "We've had to work quickly. The Division sprang up the day Central Command was destroyed. We think that it has been in the works for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to seize power," Sakura explained. 

          "That would explain a few things," Shiratori muttered. 

          "Indeed. Fortunately even though it may appear that all of our forces were destroyed on Mars and at Central Command, this was not the case. We've managed to link up with several battle groups that opposed the Division coming to power. Even though we're outmatched in terms of firepower, they do not seem to have any phase transition powered ships."

          "So just what is going on here then?" Finn asked, braving a question.

          "We're amassing all the forces we can muster and are going to try for a sneak attack and destroy the Division while it's still in its infancy," Sakura said. "They are not very organized yet, which gives us the advantage of surprise."

          "But you'll be destroyed!" Yurika said. "Even with PT engines, they'd win by sheer numerical superiority."

          "We still have to try. Should the Division government be allowed the time to establish itself, most of humanity is at risk."

          "Being a tad exaggerative, aren't we?" Ryoko said.

          "No, we're not. Unlike the SMF, which sought only to conquer Mars and the Earth, the Division has a far more simplistic plan to achieve victory."

          "And just what would that be?" Yurika asked.

          "They plan to wipe every living thing off the face of the Earth and its moon," Sakura said grimly.

          "How's that much different?" Finn asked, sounding somewhat doubtful, which earned him a glare from Yurika. 

          "He's just naturally suspicious, don't mind him," she said.

          "I agree with him partially, actually. The original mandate of the SMF government was to restore peace to humanity. It was the individual commanders of certain battle groups who decided this would be achieved by killing millions…" 

          "1 550 834 227 by my count," Finn interrupted.

          "We have disposed of those who turned to such extreme measures," Sakura said. "It was never our goal from the start to wipe humanity off the face of the Earth. But that is the Division's goal. It was created for that very reason and has vowed to destroy anyone who gets in their way, such as rebels like us. Whether you like it or not, we're in the same boat." Finn's shoulders slumped slightly, signifying his defeat. "We would like the Nadesico to participate in our attack. We need all the firepower we can get to pull this off."

          "Why not join the Earth's defense force and we could come back with even more troops?" Yurika suggested.

          "We don't have time for that. By the time we could do that, the Division would have already firmly established themselves and have built up even more forces. No, we have to stop them right now," Sakura said. 

          "What does your fleet consist of?" Yurika asked. Sakura punched a few commands into the computer and a list of ships appeared on the main monitor. "That's it, I suppose."

          "Yes. Our fleet was decimated. This is all that's left."

          "What exactly are we attacking? I know you say the Division is the target, but what do we have to physically destroy in order to achieve victory?" Finn asked.

          "The Division's headquarters is on Ganymede, an administrative moon with little civilian presence. Most of the people who live there are involved with the government and military forces so you don't have to worry too much about civilian casualties. If we can destroy the main city, the rest of the government should collapse," Sakura said.

          "Is there any way we can avoid any civilian casualties?" Yurika asked. "I'd like to avoid any, if at all possible."

          "As would we. These are our fellow citizens, we don't want to see them destroyed any more than you do. However, we've thought of everything and still can't find a way to limit casualties. We even contemplated assassination, but someone else would just take Kanzaka's place. This needs to be stopped and soon. The longer we wait the more people will die."

          "I see. Well then, if that's the case we'll help you," Yurika said.

          "Are you sure it's a good idea to jump to this kind of decision so quickly?" Ryoko asked. "I mean, two weeks ago they tried to blow us out of the sky. Not to mention we've already been duped twice." 'Gah, I think Finn's paranoia is rubbing off on me,' she thought. 

          "The Division has already proven its guilt. Why would we lie to you? If we wanted to destroy you we could have done so already," Sakura said. "Besides, I think you'll agree that the Division is the greater threat."

          "Then it's settled," Yurika said. 

**A Brief Interlude**

          "You're all free to wander about the colony if you wish," Sakura said when some of the finer points had been worked out. "We picked up some citizens from a resisting colony before Division destroyed it. They've set up camp in the mess hall. They've got soup if you're looking for something to eat."

          "That's alright. We've got enough in our ship's stores. You're all dismissed, until 20-00," Yurika said. "When do we start our attack?"

          "We're still waiting for one more battle group. They should be here in a few hours. After they've rearmed we launch. It'll take about eleven days to reach our objective."

          "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look around," Finn said as they left the operations centre.

"No conspiracy theory?" Ryoko asked cynically.

          "No disturbance in the force yet," Finn replied. "Which is more than I can say for the last time we trusted an enemy."

          "I guess if you're going to be that way, it works out for us either way,"

          "I guess. I mean, Division's our enemy, technically the Alliance is still our enemy. So no matter who be shoot out of the sky it works out. Plus, I don't have as much of a grudge against these guys than I do against that snake Kanzaka."

          "A rather cold blooded way of seeing things, don't you think? 

          "Maybe. I'm just getting sick of this. We destroy one enemy and another takes its place. Where will it end?"

There were people here and there in the narrow corridors. Most of them looked as though they could have used some sleep. They followed this depressing scene until they came to a set of doors. Finn opened one and felt a rush of warm air blast his face. They entered and looked around the scene. What had once been some kind of mess hall for miners had been transformed into a kind of tent city. Under each hastily prepared shelter there was a small heat lamp that radiated warmth and a dim light. People looked at them with curious and slightly fearful expressions. There were hushed whispers as people guessed what band of rebels Finn and Ryoko belonged to. Some people looked intimidated by Finn's gun, but they waited to stare at them until after they'd passed.

"I've never seen that uniform before," they heard someone say. "You think they're Division traitors, or prisoners?"

"The Alliance is desperate for troops. Who can blame them?" someone else said.

"Come on, Saotome," Ryoko said. "You're not seriously going to turn your back on these people, are you? They've got less than nothing. They're refugees."

"But look what they did to the people on Mars. How's this any different?" Finn asked.

"So an eye for an eye and a tooth or a tooth. Is that the way you see it?" 

Finn stopped. "If you're asking me whether or not I'm going to abandon these people, the answer is no," he said. "It's just that, what are we fighting for? We've been at this over a year now and I don't see anything changing. If we blow this chance…then what?"

"Don't lose your resolve just yet, we still need you, whether you like it or not," Ruri said, having followed them without either of them noticing. "Oh, don't listen to what the precocious child has to say. Excuse me." She walked away into the dim light in the direction of the entrance. "Idiot," they heard her mutter to herself. Finn heaved a slightly exasperated breath.

"I guess I can't disagree with her there," he said after a few minutes.

"Good. For a second there I thought you were about to give up on us," said a man sitting under a tentlike structure. He and a few others huddled around a heat lamp. Even though it was well above what he considered warm, it looked as though they couldn't warm themselves up no matter how much they rubbed their hands or sat around the dim lamp. "Nice to see you again, Jiro."

"Have a seat," came another familiar voice.

"Yu? Mr. Noda?" Ryoko asked. "What are you doing here?" 

"They brought us here when Division attacked Dusty. Please, Jiro, Reiko, have a seat," Mr. Noda said and they shuffled back a little to make room for them.

"It's Finn, actually. Finn Saotome," Finn said.

"And Ryoko," Ryoko added.

"Mr. and Mrs. Saotome," Yu said. They both blushed a little.

"We're not, actually…" Ryoko said, hastily trying to steer the conversation away from their status. "How'd you know?"

"It wasn't a hard thing to guess. Even back at the shop we could see it. We're old, not blind, you know," Yu said. "I guess you were never suited for waiting tables," she said, noticing Ryoko's gun.

"I guess not,"

"I never expected to see you two again," Finn said. "Let alone in a place like this."

"It beats the Purge," Mr. Noda said. "But then again, I didn't think I'd ever see you kids again either."

"Life's full of surprises," Finn said, looking at the lamp. 

"So what brings you here? Didn't know the Earth was helping the Alliance,"

"How'd you know we're from the Earth?" Finn asked.

"Well, it's either that or you're Division traitors or prisoners, and you two don't look like either,"

"We're here with the Nadesico," Ryoko said. Yu nodded.

"We heard she might be coming. They need all the help they can get."

"You're both soldiers then. I suppose that sounds more like you," Mr. Noda said. "I remember how you roughed up a few guys who wouldn't pay their tabs. We sure missed that when you left."

"I know this sounds stupid," Finn said. "but if you knew about us, why didn't you expose us?"

"I don't think I even have to answer that one for you," Mr. Noda chuckled. "But if you want to know, we couldn't believe you two were actually from Earth. At all the speeches and interviews, they said Earthlings were savage beasts, not that I really believed them personally, but having never having met one I couldn't say for sure. Then you two showed up out of nowhere, always looking over your shoulder and having 'lost' all your things. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together. Come through a leap gate or something?" Finn nodded.

"Was it really that obvious?" he asked, laughing a little himself.

"Well, we couldn't say for certain at the beginning. But when the police came searching for you that night, it cleared up any doubt. But I'm glad you're here. God knows we need every able body and then some," Mr. Noda said. "I tried to enlist, but they wouldn't let an old man like me do anything 'cept serve instant noodles out of a Styrofoam cup, and I've already seen enough of that in my days. But anyway, enough about us, time for you two to start talking." 

"Attention all Nadesico crewmen," came a voice over the colony's intercom a few hours later. "Captain Misumaru has ordered all Nadesico crewmen back to the ship. We are beginning launch preparations."

"I guess it's time for you to go now," Mr. Noda said.

"Yeah," Finn said, looking grimly at the floor.

"Don't start that again. Remember, we're all counting on you. Give 'em hell." They shook hands and started back for the Nadesico.

"Come on, come on," Seiya said impatiently. "We're almost ready to get out of here. About time too, I took one look at this place an needed a drink." They got onboard and Seiya sealed the hatch. 

"Feeling better?" Ryoko asked with a slight smirk.

"Yes, I believe my temporary loss of purpose has been resolved,"

"Welcome back, crewmember #0084952-A" the computer beeped at Ryoko when she signed herself in.

"I feel so special, I'm a number." 

"Welcome back, crewmember #02394582t The computer beeped at Finn. 

"At least you get a letter in yours," he said.

"So this is going to be a joint operation," Yurika explained on the bridge. The captains from other ships had come to the Nadesico for a prebriefing, a few days before their actual attack would commence.

'I sense a recurring pattern here,' Finn thought, thinking about the last time they had teamed up with someone.

"On question, Captain Misumaru," a rather large Jovian man said. "What is the specific attack capability of this ship? Is it possible to fire this PT cannon and destroy the Division while avoiding an all-out battle?"

"We've already considered that," Sakura said. "Unfortunately our only operable spy satellite sent us images if Ganymede's defenses and that's not a very feasible plan. The Division defense line is outside the reach of the Nadesico's PT cannon. The cannon will be used to destroy the moon's primary defense force. After that it will be up to smaller craft, under gravitron cannon cover-fire, to cleanout any remaining forces."

"This doesn't seem like it's going to be much of a battle," a scrawny looking commander said.

"The Division forces are regrouping," Sakura explained. "That is why we are attacking now, while their forces are somewhat scattered. Taking it out in its infancy is our only realistic plan of achieving victory. Now, we will send in interceptor support at these points…" Finn yawned from his spot along the right wall of the lower bridge, where Yurika and the others were presenting the decided strategy. He, of course, had already reviewed the plan and even added a few touches here and there, and was very bored. "We will send our forces in waves. We don't want our entire force to be trapped in a single area. Our objective is to close in on three fronts. Groups 3, 7, and 10 will take the left flank while groups 2, 4, and 8 will take the right flank. The Nadesico and the remaining groups will storm the defense line's centre. Our basic strategy is divide and conquer. We split their forces in two and squeeze in from both sides." The audience murmured some kind of acknowledgment. "You're all dismissed."

"Whew," Finn heaved a sigh of relief when he managed to slip away before anyone noticed him. 

"Problem?" someone asked, making Finn jump. "Man, Saotome. Lighten up." It was only Hikaru. Finn was about to reply when the doors clicked, a sign that they were about to open. He dove into a new by garbage can and pulled the lid shut.

"Shhh!" he said from inside and held his breath, for the stench of rotten garbage in the can was almost over powering.

"I think this will work out, Captain Misumaru," the all-too familiar voice of Sakura said.

"I hope so. If this doesn't work…" Yurika trailed off.

"At least we'll know we tried," Sakura put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Finn peaked out from under the lid. "My, what delicate shoulders you have." 

"           ?            " Was Finn's general reaction. 

"Um…thanks?" Yurika said.

"Would you like to have dinner tonight?"

"Oh, I like to have dinner every night," Yurika answered.

"No, I meant us."

'The mighty pendulum swings both ways, as does she. Very educational,' Finn thought.

"As commanders of our forces it would be only natural for us to dine together," Sakura added quickly, noticing the strange look on Hikaru's face. Finn facefaulted, which is a very hard thing to do when you're stuck inside the narrow confines of a garbage can up to your neck in partially decomposed foodstuffs. "What was that?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Hikaru said, quickly moving to intercept Sakura.

"Alright then," she stuffed a partially eaten, prepackaged lunch wrapper into the can, which ended up in Finn's mouth. 

'She's gonna blow! All men, abandon ship!' his stomach said.

'Must…hold…it…' Finn's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his blue and purple, oxygen deprived head. There was silence for some time.

"You can come…" Hikaru began. Finn burst out, spit the wrapper out of his mouth, and heaved as much air as he possibly could into his lungs.

"Are you ok?"

"Now if you'll excuse me…I'm going to hurl," Finn replied when he was somewhat recovered from lack of air. 

"If you're going to spew, spew into this," She offered a small, partially crushed, paper cup. Finn took off, with one hand over his mouth and the other around his neck, in the direction of the nearest bathroom. 

"What the hell happened to you?" Ryoko asked when they finally met up with one another. She picked a banana peel off his shoulder and tossed it away. "And what the hell is that smell?" If Finn had anything left in his stomach, it would have been long gone by now. "Damnit, snap out of it!"

**Crossing the Rubicon**

          "All ships in position. Attack will commence in t-minus 3:00," 

          "PT cannon fully charged."

          "All aestivalis are ready to launch," Yurika watched the small timer on the main screen count down.

          "Saotome!" Seiya said as Finn and Ryoko strapped themselves in. "We've just attached three extra missiles under your wing,"

          "What's so special about that?" Ryoko asked.

          "They're magpulse torpedoes."

          "What's that?" Finn asked.

          "I've concentrated the necessary frequency from the blades that neutralize distortion fields into a single shot. It should knock out any distortion field you hit with them."

          "That might give us the edge," Ryoko said.

          "But you only have three of them, so don't waste them on the small fries," Seiya said, climbing down a few rungs of the ladder.

          "T-minus 30 seconds and counting. All combat personnel stand by," Megumi's voice boomed. 

          "Good hunting," he said and jumped back. They sealed the cockpit and Jetstream was towed to the catapult, where the aestivalis were waiting to launch.

          "Operation commences in 5…" Akito launched. "4…" Hikaru launched. " 3…" Izumi launched. "2…" Kumi launched. "1…" Jetstream launched. "Begin." The Nadesico, which was several hundred kilometers outside of Division's sensor range, suddenly burst forward and fired the PT cannon into the fleet of ships that had gathered around Ganymede's defense line, vaporizing their largest visible formation of ships. The crew on the bridge of the Nadesico watched as the very fabric of space was destroyed and the resulting implosion wiping the Division ships out of existence. "All fighters advance." 

          This was the their queue. All the Nadesico's pilots cranked their thrusters to full and plunged into the chaos, the result of the Nadesico's PT cannon. 

          "They're confused. Take out as many as you can," Akito said, drawing his machine gun and opening fire on the nearest, and weakest, demolisher. Having already been weakened by the shockwave from the PT cannon, the demolisher went down without a fight.

          'He's starting to get the hang of it,' Ryoko thought. Hikaru and Izumi took their flanks, while Kumi brought up the rear, destroying the ramjets that had been launched. Akito flew straight into a demolisher and ran it through, using the sharp blade of his bayonet. Gravity blasts from dimojin and goliath units ripped past them, furthering the havoc already underway.

          'Now it's time for us to get to work,' Finn concentrated on the task at hand. Off in the distance, to the left and right, there were the small flashes of explosions as Alliance and Division forces exchanged fire. 

          Wasting no time, they transformed Jetstream into robot mode and drew its sword. Division was still organizing itself, which made it all too easy for them to strike down the helpless demolishers. They fell like flower stalks under a pair of scissors. However, after the eleventh easy kill, the enemy began to smarten up. On the twelfth robot, they encountered some resistance. The demolisher raised both its armoured arms and projected a strong field around its front. Sparks flew everywhere as Jetstream's sword hit this barrier and as they tried to push through. 

          'At least these guys don't babble on like the Jovians did,' Finn thought. Jetstream shook and they both felt as though they had been hit in the back with a red-hot sludge hammer. They shook their heads and looked over Jetstream's shoulder. There was a demolisher, wielding a massive mace, winding up for another shot. Just before it delivered the blow, Jetstream let go of its sword and caught the monstrous weapon by the spikes protruding from its head. The other demolisher grabbed Jetstream by the waist, pinning it to its spot. Grinning, Finn and Ryoko fired the machine gun, ripping the mace-wielding robot to shreds, its hands still holding onto its weapon's handle. Jetstream grabbed mace, which was a lot heavier than they expected, and swung it around its back, crushing the other demolisher's head between the middle of Jetstream's back and the mace. They ripped free of the damaged robot and, still holding the mace, evaded a missile shower from a cruiser above them. Tools in hand, they flew straight up towards the enemy ship. Three demolishers moved to intercept and flew in reverse, firing their guns. Finn and Ryoko hit the boosters and flew straight towards the enemy. With one hand, they sent the mace flying forward, which ripped the demolisher in the centre in half. They then quickly sliced the other two into shards and continued towards the cruiser. They slashed the sword down, but did little more than make a small indent in the ship's distortion field. Floating above the field, missiles and gunshots flying back, they held the sword in both of Jetstream's hands, flipped it around, and drove the tip of the blade head-on into the field. At first there was nothing but the crackling and hissing of the field exerting an outward pressure, trying to force the blade out. Finally, they felt a little give and the space around the cruiser shimmered as the distortion field collapsed. Jetstream's sword sank into the armoured plating of the ship. They hit the boosters and carved a long opening into it. They replaced the sword back into the wing and rammed Jetstream's arms into the opening. When they opened fire, thousands of tiny bullet holes erupted out the other end. They launched a timed missile into the bowels of the ship and thrust away from the floating time bomb. At a safe distance, they watched as the ships erupted in a giant fireball. A few seconds after, its reactor blew and the explosion doubled in intensity. The resulting fireball vaporized the ramjet and demolisher fighters that had been charged with the ship's protection. However, there was no time to celebrate, for two demolishers grabbed onto Jetstream's legs while two more grabbed it around the waist and by the shoulders. 'Remember this trick?' Finn asked Ryoko as they cranked up the boosters built into the foot components of each leg. The heat was so intense that the upper half of the robots melted away. The problem was, what to do with the other two hitchhikers. A ramjet hovered in front of them and fired a barrage of missiles at them. With all their strength, they managed to twist Jetstream around, and the incoming projectiles sank deep into one of the demolishers. The resulting explosion shot them across the battlefield and into the distortion field of a heavy battleship. The nearby ramjets zeroed in and buzzed around Jetstream as they tried to regain control. 'They're not shooting at us.'

          'That's because they'd blow their own ship up if they did,' Ryoko answered. 

          "Akito, guys. Stick close to one of their ships. The ramjets won't fire if you're close to one," they said. The ramjets buzzed around them like a swarm of angry wasps. Then they did something that surprised them. The small robots transformed into their robot mode and grabbed onto whatever piece of exposed armour they could find. Even the distortion field, which was operating at full strength, didn't perturb them. Finn and Ryoko tried to brush them off, but they just kept coming. Soon they had covered the entire frame.

          "You were saying?" Kumi said smugly.

          "Just gem them off!" they said impatiently. 

          "Where are you going?"

          "What do you mean. 'where are you going?' We're not doing anything!" The frame was being pushed away from the Division ship by the tiny thrusters on the ramjets' feet. 

          'There's a build up of heat and radiation along the outside of the frame. I think they're about to blow,' Ryoko thought, feeling the heat of the ramjets overloading themselves.

          'Think think think think,' the gears were working overtime in Finn's head. 'got it,' They transformed the fighter, shedding a few. 'let's haul some keel!' They fired the boosters and took off, even though they couldn't see where they were going. 

          From Kumi's view at the side of the Division battleship, she saw Jetstream fly away, only to explode in a blinding flash of light followed by a giant fireball.

          "HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!!" Finn and Ryoko cried as they burst out of the ever-expanding fireball, which nipped at their heels. However, the frame had been purged of the annoying ramjets. 

          'That wasn't one of your brighter moves,' Ryoko thought.

          'Hey, it worked. Go with it,' Finn replied and they flipped the twin cannons forward and fired a shot at Kumi, who floated there in shock staring at the bolts hurtling towards her in slow motion. However, just before they would have hit her, they collided with something and sent it flying off into space. 

          "Don't just float there, do something!"

          "Yeah yeah," Kumi said, rearming her railgun and blowing a massive hole in the side of the battleship. "I thought you said this was going to be a challenge."

          Finn and Ryoko weaved in and out of combat. Still in fighter mode, they fired a constant flow of shots at enemy units, most of which hit their targets. When they reached the very centre of the battle, a line of friendly forces that was steadily pushing its way forward, cutting the Division fleet in two, they made a sharp turn and ploughed into the wall of ships blocking the path. Transforming to robot mode, they were soon locked in combat with a demolisher. They seemed to be pretty equally matched in power when it came to shoving one another back. Since they were fighting hand-to-hand in such close proximity to one another, their distortion fields canceled each other out. Quickly, they brought Jetstream's knee up and used the tail fin protruding from the knee to split the demolisher cleanly in two. Another demolisher capitalized on the split second they allowed themselves to relish the victory and fired point blank into Jetstream's back. Shards of armour were sent flying in all directions and Finn and Ryoko felt the blow as though it had been delivered to their own bodies. Their view became grainy for a second as the systems rerouted their functions away from the damaged sections. However, when they spun around to take on the object of their rage, they found nothing but a cloud of steel shards and broken remains of the demolisher. Akito floated not far away, holding his machine gun in one hand and a smoking railgun in the other. They stared at one another for a moment, before Jetstream nodded and they took off.

          "Approximately 63% of the Division forces have been destroyed," Ruri said, a small vidwindow appearing in everyone's cockpit. They heard most of their fellow soldiers cheer and applaud. However, Finn and Ryoko looked grimly at the battle.

          'Something's not right. This is too easy,' Finn thought.

          'Yeah, it's like they're holding back,' Ryoko replied. 'Bank left!' They narrowly avoided an enemy gravity blast.

          "Don't celebrate just yet."

          "We've got them on the run!" Kumi said as the Division lines began to fall further and further back. Ships pulled u-turns and pulled out of the battle. Demolisher and ramjet robots laid down a steady cover fire, protecting their retreat. Kumi held the trigger and fired charge after charge at the withdrawing ships. 

"Hold your fire," Finn and Ryoko said and made Jetstream force Kumi's railgun down. "Something's not right here." A week gunshot bounced off their distortion field. The Division forces faded from sight as they moved behind the veil darkness of Ganymede's shadow.

"Shouldn't they fire the PT cannon now? We're all out of the way," Kumi asked.

"That would destroy the colony. We want to limit civilian casualties as best we can," Finn and Ryoko said.

"You're too soft, I thought you were both soldiers. Compassion, ha! I expected more from you two."

"You little…" Jetstream clasped the handle of its sword, daring Kumi to push them just one more inch.

          "We're on a battlefield, not a simulator. There's no room for…"

          "Look out!" Jetstream tackled Kumi's aestivalis and forced them both out of the way as a strong gravity blast. 

          "They must be firing from the shadow, we can't seem them there," Hikaru said, joining them.

          "No, they'd have fired more shots than that. Something's going on here," Finn and Ryoko said. "We have a feeling they have some underhanded ploy to gain the advantage."

          "How do you know?" asked Kumi.

          "Experience, you should learn to appreciate it."

          "Attention all pilots. We're receiving an incoming transmission from the colony," Megumi patched them through.

          "Attention all rebels. We've had fun playing with you, but, sadly, our thirst for entertainment has been quenched. If you all surrender now, I promise not to execute you. You have ten minutes to decide," Kanzaka said smugly.

          'Bastard. They can't do much other than take potshots at us. It's nothing we can't handle,' Ryoko thought.

          "Oh, and by the way," Kanzaka's face appeared again. 

'And here comes the hostage,' Finn mumbled. 

"Shiratori, should you and your forces fail to comply. Well…we can't guarantee the safety of this little troll." The screen switched to a picture of Yukina, tied to a chair with tape over her mouth.

'Bingo!'

'Let me guess, 'think of something more original'?' Ryoko asked.

'That about sums it up. For once I'd like to fight someone who had a unique idea. This whole hostage thing is starting to piss me off.'

"You have 8 minutes. Time's a'wasting," Kanzaka ceased transmission.

"Well?" Kumi asked. "What's it going to be?"

"We can't surrender now, after all this. But what are we going to do about Yukina?" Yurika asked, heaving a sigh. "Shiratori, I'm afraid you're going to have to make this decision. She's your sister. I can't determine what she's worth." Shiratori stared at the screen.

          "We hate to sound cruel, but we need a decision, now," Finn and Ryoko said. 

          'Wait just a second here…I've got an idea. Let's get back to the ship. We only have a few minutes,' Finn said. Ryoko could tell what he was planning. They hit the boosters and rocketed back to the ship and skidded to a stop, sending sparks flying from the friction between the frame's metallic feet and the hangar floor.

          "How much time?" Finn asked as he leaped out of the cockpit and bolted for the doors.

          "We've got two minutes," Ryoko said, running beside him.

          "A whole two minutes. I just love these no pressure scenarios." They whipped around a corner and made it to an elevator. The doors closed and light elevator music played. It made the few seconds they were actually in there seem like hours. They stopped at the bridge floor, however, the door refused to open. "Just what we needed." Finn held the door-open button and smacked the panel. The doors opened a crack.

          "Come on," Ryoko said, grabbing his attention away from the shiny buttons. She stuck her fingers through the crack and tried to force her half of the door open. Finn took the other half of the door and they pulled. 

          "Come on, a little more," Finn grunted, feeling as though he was about to suffer a hernia any second. "We've only got a minute left,"

          "Hey, I thought you'd have learned by now that the bad guys always make some speech before they shoot a hostage," Ryoko said. The door gave a little. Finn braced his foot on the opposite wall and put all his weight into heaving the door open.

          "This isn't getting us anywhere," he said letting go of the door. "Let's try something else." In her frustration, Ryoko drew her gun and fired several times into the console. This gave him an idea. 

          If you were standing outside the elevator doors, there's a good chance you would have been shot about 18 times. They fired a perimeter out of the door and kicked what was left down. Wasting no time, they sprinted onto the bridge.

          "Ryoko? Saotome?" Yurika asked. "What are you doing here?"

          "Inez, you have any CCs on you?" Inez shook her head. "They're all in storage, I could get you some, but it would take a while." 

          "Your time is up," Kanzaka said, his face appearing on the main screen. "What is your decision?"

          "Stall them," Finn said, hauling Shiratori out of his seat. "You're coming with us." They ran out the door, dragging poor Shiratori by his collar.  

          "Where are we going?" Shiratori asked, finally getting on his feet and running beside them.

          "Erina's old room," Finn said.

          'I don't even want to know what happened there,' Shiratori thought as they passed the broken remains of the elevator doors. Since the nearest elevator was beyond damaged, they had to use the next best thing. Finn and Ryoko jumped down from landing to landing for a few flights and burst out the door on deck 12. When Shiratori caught up to them, they were standing outside the door to Erina's quarters. 

          "I take it you don't have a key," he huffed and puffed.

          "Don't need one," Finn said and with a swift kick, he tried to bring the door down. However, all the succeeded in doing was making a large foot-shaped dent in it. "Hmm…"

          "Stand aside," Ryoko brought the door down with her foot and sent its broken pieces flying into the room.

          "Wow mama," Shiratori said under his breath.

          "Don't get her mad," Finn ran his finger across his throat and jumped into the room. "Where are they?" he asked himself, digging through drawers and sifting through small boxes. Fortunately for them, all of Erina's stuff was still, more or less, the way it was before Akatsuki's betrayal. Ryoko ripped the night table drawers out and emptied their continents onto the bed. "Any luck?"

          "Not yet." 

          "Just what are you two looking for anyway?" Shiratori asked, stepping into the room.

          "A pair of earrings," Finn said, getting down on his hands and knees and searching the space under the bed. Shiratori was about to ask what was so special about earrings when Finn put his hand up. "Shit, they're not here either. Check the dresser." Shiratori went to the dresser and slid one of the drawers open. He turned red when he pulled out one of Erina's bras. "Ruri, how are we doing for time?" Finn asked, opening a vidwindow.

          "Not very well, I'm afraid. But I think you have a few minutes, he's doing one of his speeches. I'd give you about three minutes, tops," Ruri whispered back.

          "Damn, they're not here either. Where are they?" Ryoko said when she had emptied the last drawer. "Shiratori, quite staring at the lingerie and start looking!" Shiratori dropped the undergarments he was holding on the floor and began to sift through the dresser. "I'm checking the bathroom." 

          "Is this what you're looking for?" Shiratori asked, picking up a blue, oval shaped object. 

          "That's one. We need another," Finn said, taking the earring. He nudged Shiratori out of the way and began to sift through the other drawers. 

          "I found one," Ryoko said as she came out of the bathroom. 

          "We've got another one right here. Ok, let's do this," Finn took Ryoko's hand and grabbed Shiratori's wrist. "This is going to sound strange, but hear me out. You've been to the room where they're holding your sister, right?" 

          "It's Kanzaka's old office. I was in there before I was assigned…"

          "Good. I need you to picture that office," Finn closed his eyes. "Go." Finn and Ryoko felt the strange, tingling sensation of the nanomachines in their bodies getting ready for a boson jump. "Don't worry about the light show. Just keep your mind focused on that room." There was a split second where Shiratori felt himself being shifted from one plain of existence to another and back again, rematerializing in another spot. There was a sudden pain in his chest and he fell to the floor.

          "Big brother!" Yukina screamed, horrified by what she just witnessed.

          "What the hell? Where did you come from?" Ryoko aimed her gun at Kanzaka, the man who held the smoking gun that had pulled the trigger in Shiratori's chest. Finn hauled the fallen Jovian into his lap with one hand and grabbed Yukina's bound hands with the other. 

          "Big brother!" Yukina sobbed as blood poured from the wound in his chest, which laboured to take in breaths of air. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Every word that was spoken sounded long and drawn-out. His vision was blurry and he struggled to focus on what was going on around him.

          "Gotta go, see ya," Finn grabbed the other CC from his pocket. Ryoko pulled the trigger as they boson jumped back to the Nadesico. 

**Down the Trodden Path**

          "Wha…where are we? What happened?" Yukina asked, her voice trembling.

          "It's ok, you're on the Nadesico. You're safe here," Finn said. 

          "Where is…brother!" Yukina picked up Shiratori's hand. They had boson jumped onto the lower bridge of the Nadesico and everyone stared at what they had just witnessed. 

          "Get a med team down here, now!" Yurika ordered.

          "Did you get him?" Finn asked, turning his attention to Ryoko.

          "I don't know. We jumped at the same time I fired. I may have got him, I don't know."

          ""What happened?" Yurika asked as Inez and her med team carried Shiratori off on a stretcher. 

          "I'll tell you later," Finn replied. "Man, he wasn't kidding when he said he'd killer her."

          "You two had better get back outside," 

          "Roger that, Captain," Finn and Ryoko made their way back to the hangar.

          "This sucks. How many more tricks does that snake have up his sleeve anyway?" Ryoko asked as they slid down the siderails of the stairs.

          "Let's just hope you got him. At least we'll get out there before they start attacking again,"

          "You sure they weren't actually retreating? Maybe they were just bluffing," The shipped shuddered, causing them to fall and land in a pile of arms and legs on the landing. 

          "Anymore questions?" Finn said, pulling himself off the floor. 

          Meanwhile…

          "Fire the PT cannon!" Yurika said.

          "We can't, Captain. Our fighters are in too close proximity to the Division forces. We would destroy them if we fired," Ruri said.

          "What about a gravity blast?"

          "Negative. Even a gravity blast would have a high chance of destroying friendly forces."

          "What can we do, Captain?" Prospector asked sounding worried. Yurika stared at the floor. 

          "Pray." 

          "How about some missile cover here!!!" Akito's face appeared on the main screen. Outside had turned from the eye of the storm to the second wind of the hurricane. It looked like two swarms of wasps colliding with one another. "Where are Ryoko and Saotome?!"

          "Saotome…" Megumi opened the com channel.

          "Launching now," Jetstream rolled onto the catapult and was launched back into the chaotic melee. "Not much breathing room out here." They switched to the main machine guns built into the underside of the nose and the ones mounted on the arm-pontoons. With all the distortion fields operating in such close proximity to one another there was so much interference that not even Jestream's field could stay up for long. Only the fields on the heavy battleships could remain operable. 

          "An evaluation of enemy capabilities indicates a distinct tactical deficiency," Ruri said.

          "In other words?" Akito asked.

          "We're outnumbered," Finn and Ryoko answered as they blew several ramjets out of the sky.

          'Damnit, we can't take them out one by one. We need someway to get them together and blow them up with one shot,' Finn thought.

          'I'd like to know how you plan on doing that,' Ryoko shot back. She noticed something strange off in the distance, closing in slowly but surely. 'Where'd that come from?"

          'Who cares, I'm more worried about where it's going,' There was a bright flash of yellow light as a massive wave ripped through the centre of battlefield, blowing a clean line straight through, destroying forces on both sides. The fighting stopped as everyone turned to look at the source of the blast. It fired again, this time cutting a line right through Ganymede, causing the surface to collapse into a cloud of rocks and dust.

          "What is that thing, Ruri?" Yurika asked.

          "Unknown. It is currently out of range of our sensors. However, I can tell you that it is approximately 6470km in diameter at 2 525 000km and closing.

          "What the hell…?" Akito stared at the object as it closed in. It was bigger than Ganymede had been. The sheer size of it was too much for mere words to describe. It was very dark, almost black in colour, and spherical, much like a moon. There was a large opening at the front, which glowed yellow as it fired again, sending Ganymede's fragments spiraling off into space.

          'Wow…I think I had too much Jolt cola,' was Finn's reaction. 

          Everyone, the Nadesico's crew, the Jovians, the Division, they all watched as the 'moon' came to a stop where Ganymede had been. No one moved. They were either frozen with fear or in shock.

          'I'm beginning to hate surprises,' Ryoko thought. 

          "I don't think that thing's friendly," they said. "Captain? Hello? I don't think it's a great idea to just sit here and gawk at it. Oh boy, I just hope this doesn't start a panic." The moon fired again, blowing a straight line through the swarm of fighters, narrowly missing the Nadesico, but destroying several Alliance ships that were mere meters away. This seemed to break the spell over everyone and forces on both sides scrambled into a frenzied panic.

          'This is exactly what I didn't want to happen!' 

          "All pilots, return to the Nadesico. NOW!" Yurika screamed. 

          "Captain, we're issuing a retreat," Sakura said from her flagship. "We don't know what that thing is or where it came from, but one thing's for sure, it's not friendly. We're gathering our remaining forces and pulling back to the dark side of Jupiter. We should be able to regroup there undetected."

          "Attention Nadesico!" came a staticy voice. "This is Commander Grange, Division. We assume that thing is not one of yours. We request a ceasefire. Are you getting this, Nadesico?"

          "We read you. Ceasefire accepted, meet us at these coordinates," Yurika sent the necessary information. "Gather up every unit you can. We might have to fight that thing. Tell your troops not to fire at it. We don't want to make it angry."

          "Roger that," the desperate and confused Division commander said.

          "All pilots have returned," Ruri reported.

          "Good, take us around the other side of the planet, but keep track of this thing's position. It came here in a hurry and could leave just as quickly," Yurika ordered. 

          "I knew I shouldn't have had those expired noodles," Kumi said as she joined the other pilots on the hanger floor. She noticed Finn and Ryoko's not-so-surprised expressions. "You guys look like you were expecting this,"

          "Not much surprises me anymore," Finn said and they made their way to the bridge.

          "The moon is holding its position in Ganymede's former location," Ruri said. 

          "Where are we going?" Ryoko asked.

          "To the dark side of Jupiter to regroup. Then we'll figure out to do about that thing," answered Yurika. 

          "And what do we do if and when we have to fight that thing? If it blows up moons it'll make short work of us," Finn said. 

          "Does the moon have an energy signature that matches any of our records?" asked Yurika.

          "I don't know. But I can find out," Inez sat down at a spare computer terminal and began her work. "Yes, there is a match. It is on the same wavelength as Fortress Magnum's, and from a preliminary surface scan, it appears to be made from the same material."

          "Will someone please tell me what this Fortress Magnum thing is?!" Kumi screamed. Prospector's glasses shattered. "I don't think that's too much to ask!"

          "Just when you think things can't get any worse," Finn mumbled to himself in the cafeteria lounge, where he and the other pilots were taking a break. "I'd expect this in an episode of Gekigengar, or whatever it's called, but in real life? I've seen some fucked up stuff before, but this…" he trailed off.

          "But we can beat it," Akito said. "As long as we help each other out…"

          "Mindless effort won't get us anywhere," Ryoko interrupted. "I don't like to admit it, but we're pretty much screwed."

          "If we have to fight it," Hikaru said.

          "Which is more than likely," 

          "So you're all just going to give up?" Akito asked.

          "I didn't say that. Look, I'm all for taking this thing on if we have to, but think about it. That thing's the size of a frickin moon! You saw how easily it wiped most of our forces out. We're a little outgunned here."

          "What about Fort Mag?" Kumi asked.

          "Already thought about it. It's a possible solution, but I'm not sure if it would work," Finn said.

          "Why's that?" a vidwindow popped up.

          "Three, two, one, kaboom! It's time to get to know Nadesico!" It said. 

          "Welcome to Miss Inez explains. Pilot Kato raises a very interesting possibility. However, I'm afraid that Lt. Saotome's doubts are well founded. As you know, Fortress Magnum destroyed Europa, and the old Superior Male Forces command centre along with it. However, that was against an unprotected moon made of frozen water. The moon, which we have codenamed Zero, is slightly larger than Ganymede was. It's energy signature is very similar to Fort Mag's and is currently projecting a distortion field that is roughly equal to the combined fields we encountered on Mars when we activated Fort Mag. The problem is that we don't know if even the fort's weapons are strong enough to destroy Zero. Also, the cerebral sensor net required to operate the fortress was only able to connect to Lt. Saotome's nanomachine network. However, since his nanomachines have undergone programming and structural network changes, this may no longer be possible. As to what the moon is exactly, we think it might be some kind of first contact by the alien race that built the fortress and discovered boson jumping."

          "All combat personnel, report to the bridge immediately," came Megumi's voice.

          "What now? Don't tell me Jupiter's gone or something," Ryoko said.

          "We've received a signal from Zero. It appears to be some kind of old transmission wavelength. I'm having trouble blocking the old TV signals from the new signal," Megumi said, fiddling with her consol. "Ruri, can you boost the power for me?"

          "Yes," Ruri hit a few controls. 

          "There, I've got it. It might be a little garbled, but it's the best I can do," All eyes turned to the grainy window on the main screen. "It appears to be a text only message." Megumi read what was displayed on the screen.

"_Greetings. For some time now, we have watched your race's eternal battle with itself with great amusement. However, our appetite for entertainment has been satisfied. Much to our disgust, you seem to be unable to achieve a lasting peace between the many factions of your race. Therefore, we have decided to end your conflict for you. The planet you know as Earth, and its outlaying human colonies will be purged of the conflict as a punishment for your sins. End com._"

          "What exactly do they mean by 'purge'?" asked Finn.

"_Input received: Specimen 002329457, designated title: Lieutenant Finn Saotome. Answer to received input: you are the specimen we analyzed prior to our physical intervention. The word 'purge' in the context we use it is to cleanse and purify. Therefore, the human race as you know it will be destroyed. End com._"

          "And if we resist?"

"_Input received: Resistance will not be tolerated. Any resistance will be met with extermination. End com_"

          "Just who are you anyway?" asked Yurika.

"_Input received: Specimen 002329480, designated title: Captain Yurika Misumaru. Answer to received input: who and what we are is not relevant. The result will be the same. End com._"

          "Do you enjoy watching the news?" Finn asked.

          "What are you doing?" Yurika asked in a hushed voice.

          "Trust me," Finn replied.

                    "_Input received: Input irrelevant. End com._"

          "Oh it's very relevant, I assure you. Now, it seems to me that you guys are very up to speed on recent human history, is that correct?"

                    "_Input received: Input irrelevant. End com._"

          "But if this is indeed first contact with an alien race, why didn't we pick up any probes? I mean, if you guys really are aliens, you must have sent some kind of observation satellite into human controlled space. Problem is that we don't have any record of that. So how did you manage to eavesdrop on human events for so long?

                    "_Input received: Input irrelevant. End com._"

          "Answer my question."

                    "_Request denied._"

          "Why's that?"

                    "_Input received: Input irrelevant. End com._"

          "Answer me."

          "I am reading a high energy build up from Zero's location. Its energy signature matches that of its first attack," Ruri said.

          "Getting frustrated? Grating on your nerves? If you're some higher form of life than us then you wouldn't take out your frustrations through violence."

          "Are you sure it's a great idea to get them mad?" Megumi asked.

          "Nothing to say for yourself? Come on, I'd expect more than this from you." 

                    "_You are trying our patience._"

          "Good. That proves that you're actually some kind of thinking life form. Now, here's how I figure it. You are the ones who discovered boson jumping, right? But when the early Jovians came along, you realized they might find out about your little discovery. So in order to prevent your technology from falling into the wrong hands, you buried what you and fled to Jupiter. But then the Jovians ended up having to flee to Jupiter as well. So my guess is that you went a little further out. Maybe Saturn. There're enough moons out there for you guys to live on. And over the decades of isolation, you think you're some higher level of life. Am I right? Or am I wrong? Tell me I'm wrong and I'll apologize right now. Just keep in mind that 'superior' life forms have to practice what they preach. It's a sin to lie, is it not?" There was no response for some time.

"_It is only a sin if it is committed against those who are pure of heart._"

          "Don't give me that crap. Should I also mention that killing a sin?" No response. "Should I also mention that ethnic cleansing has already been tried?" Still response. "Maybe I should start down the little nuclear pathway as well? Let's see…you've killed; you watched others be killed without raising a finger to help them. Last time I checked, those weren't exactly things you get merit badges for. Unless I was sick the week they passed out that one."

"_Your race has sinned, therefore you must be cleansed of your evil._"

          "You know what's always killed me about people like you? It's just the same, sad repetition. Almost every war ever fought has been in the name of religion to some degree, and you're just repeating history's sad pattern. Granted I'm not the best guy to ask about this kind of stuff, but I seem to recall something that says you're not supposed to kill. Maybe I'm not remembering right, am I?"

          "The signal's gone," Megumi said. 

          "Ladies and gentlemen, this programme has been brought to you by 'religious nutbar', flakey and totally nuts!" Finn took a bow. __

          "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Yurika asked. "I mean, you just..."

          "Pissed off a group of highly technologically advanced people who have the ability to destroy life as we know it and reduce the human race to little piles of dust? Yeah, I think so."

          "Ok, just making sure."

          "How do you know they're really humans?" Akito asked.

          "Think about it. Have you ever seen an alien? Don't you think that this is a much better explanation for what we've found on Mars than just saying 'oh well, aliens must have made it'? I don't know about you, but I think finding a working DVD player along with a bunch of disks that showed the Jovian Martian colony being nuked inside Fort Mag is proof enough for me And besides, these people said they were going to destroy us all anyway, why not try and use their own beliefs against them?"

          "What disks? You never told us about any disks," Yurika said.

          "Um…woops?" Everyone facefaulted, except for Ryoko.

          "Idiots," said everyone's favourite science officer.

**Plan A**

          "So what's the game plan?" asked Akito. "We're not seriously going to fight that thing, are we?"

          "We don't know what we're going to do yet. Right now we're trying to get every Division ship we can and the Jovian Alliance is still gathering its forces," answered Yurika. "They were pretty scattered."

          "Some of the Division ships are refusing to join and have already launched frontal assaults at Zero, so far with no success," Sakura explained. "But most of whatever's left of the Division has joined us. Is there anyway we can take out its contortion…sorry, distortion field?"

          "Our aestivalis might be able to. Only problem is, they'd have to get right up to Zero in order to do it. It also took Akito and Ryoko quite a while to hack their way through the fields protecting Fort Mag. We'd have to give them at least twenty minutes, and that's with all four aestivalis," Yurika said. "Fortunately, Zero has been pretty quiet since we left. It's only acted in self-defense."

          "Not that that's going to last for long." added Finn. 'Maybe they're just waiting to recharge their batteries or something. Either way, I wouldn't give us much longer till we have to make a decision."

          "Could we call in reinforcements from Earth?" asked Sakura.

          "Whatever's left of them," Finn mumbled.

          "Most of the UF was destroyed en route to Mars," Yurika explained. "But we could ask the Cosmos and the Skylinx for help. That would give us two more gravity blast cannons and two wings of aestivalis."

          "How are we going to get them here in time? It'd take at least six months for them to even get here," Finn said. "And I doubt they'll give us that much time."

          "We could all make a break for Earth and set up a final defense line there! By that time, the UF will have rebuilt some of its forces." Yurika beamed with hope.

          "With all due respect, Captain, this is our home. We can't wait for it to come to Earth. All our colonies would probably be wiped out before that thing headed for Earth. We have to make our stand here," Sakura said.

          "What about a boson jump?" asked Yurika. "Could we jump to Earth and then jump back with the Cosmos and Skylinx?"

          "I'm afraid that's not a very likely scenario," Inez explained. "Our recent boson jumps have brought our CC supply down to nearly zero. We might have enough to jump the Nadesico to Earth, but not enough to make the return trip."

          "How many do we have?" asked Finn.

          "From our original stock of five hundred, we have fifty-four left. Each CC has enough bose particle matter to jump approximately ten people. It would take roughly fifty to jump the Nadesico one way." 

          "I've got an idea," Ryoko said, finally saying something. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about her, leaning against Minato's consol. "Don't look so surprised," she added, noticing a few people eyeing her strangely. "Saotome and I could use one CC to jump to the Earth, pick up a fresh stock, and then jump back with the Cosmos, Skylinx, and anything else the UF is willing to give up."

          "Would that work?" Yurika asked, turning to Inez.

          "I don't see why not. But could you and Lt. Saotome handle the jump back? You won't have the Captain or Akito to act as alternate routes for the bose particles," 

          "Hey, I think it's worth the risk to get eight more aestis and two more Nadesico class ships."

          "If it works. The UF isn't exactly on friendly terms with us," Finn said doubtfully.

          "Do ever look on the positive side?" Yurika asked. "And more importantly, do you have any better ideas?" Finn's shoulders sagged in defeat. 

          "Ok, let's do this. We'll need to disconnect the jump regulator in the observation deck so we can take it with us. We'll need it to bring the Cosmos and the Skylinx here," he said.

          "Now you'll both need to carry a small stock of CCs, in case you need to get out of any…situations," Inez said, looking at Finn.

          "What? It's not my fault they ended up with a few broken noses," Finn defended himself. 

          "It's just you have a habit of getting into trouble," Yurika said. "Keep at least one hidden on you, incase of emergency,"

          "Why don't we take the boson phone thingy with us? That way you could talk to the UF to negotiate, if necessary," Ryoko asked.

          "We did manage to build another one. But only Shiratori knows how to operate it," Yurika said.

          "How's he doing anyway?" Finn asked, looking at Inez, who stared at the floor.

          "Inez?" Yurika asked.

          "He's alive, but he's currently depending on life support. I don't see him recovering any time soon," she said. "If ever."

          "Great," Finn said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

          "What about his sister?" Yurika asked. "She might know how to operate it." Once again, everyone looked at Inez.

          "It's possible," she said. "But…"

          "But what?" demanded Ryoko. Inez opened a vidwindow, showing sickbay, where Shiratori was connected to several beeping machines. There, at his side, was Yukina. She looked as though she had cried herself to sleep. "What about Sakura or any of her troops?"

          "Sorry, that whole boson communication thing was pretty new. It's still only in the civilian testing stage. I doubt if any of my troops know how to work that thing," Sakura said. Everyone looked at the vidwindow. 

          "What the hell?" Ryoko asked, seeing Finn on the other side of the screen. Apparently he had slipped out at some point during the conversation. 

          "When did he…?"

          "Wait a sec, just watch," Ryoko interrupted Yurika.

          Finn silently stepped into sickbay and stood beside the chair Yukina was sitting in. She was asleep. Her head rested on the side of the bed and she hung onto Shiratori's hand. He took her hand from her brother's and gave it a slight squeeze. Yukina stirred.

          "Big brother?" she asked sleepily. 

          "I'm sorry," Finn said.

          "You're the man who…"

          "Yep, that's me," Finn said quietly.

          "Did you get Kanzaka? Is everyone over now?"

          "Kind of."

          "What do you mean?"

          "Look, I don't want to bug you right now, I'm sure you've got enough on your plate, but we need you for something."

          "What?"

          "I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. We're in pretty deep shi…trouble. You're brother knew…"

          "Knows. He's not dead!" Yukina said emotionally, wrenching her hand away from him.

          "Sorry. He knows how to work something that we need. But none of us know how it works. We think you might know how."

          "Why should I help you? It's your fault my brother's like this. Savage earthling!"

          "That's not exactly accurate, but if blame has to be laid is might as well be on me. Just remember, he came with us to save you. He didn't want you to get hurt. In a way, he put his life in danger to save yours." Yukina stared at the floor. "We need your help. Without you, there's a good chance many millions of lives will be lost." Yukina still didn't answer. "I'll probably end up sounding like a real son of a bitch, but look; what's more important, your brother's health, which is, granted, questionable, or the lives of every one you know and then some?" Still, no answer. He opened a vidwindow that showed a picture of Zero on it. "Take a look at this,"

          "He'd better know what he's doing," Ryoko said from the bridge.

          "What is that?" asked Yukina.

          "That," Finn said. "is our enemy."

          "The Division?"

          "No. We're not exactly sure who they are. But what we do know is that they want us, all of us, dead. That includes everyone you've ever known and more. They're out for extermination, and believe me, they've got the power to do it."

          "What do you need me to do?" Yukina asked.

          "We need you to show us how to use the long distance boson communicator."

          "The leap phone?"

          "Yeah, I guess that's what you'd call it."

          "Alright," she said quietly. "I'll help you."

          "Nice going," Ryoko said as Finn led Yukina onto the observation deck. "Did you have to tell her we were all going to die if she didn't help us?"

          "Let's just say it was better than plan B," Finn replied. 

"Just what was plan B?"

"Um…no time for that now," Finn said, plan B being to pull a gun on Shiratori and threaten to kill him if Yukina didn't cooperate. 'Not one of my better ideas,' he mentally sweatdropped. "Now, how do you work this thing? I still don't understand how Seiya was able to build one without even knowing how to operate it."

"He followed design plans Shiratori downloaded from a satellite," Inez said. 

"It's pretty simple to use. All you do is punch the code into the key pad and hit this button," Yukina said, doing a demonstration. "For this one the code is…" She hit some buttons on the keypad. "284-600-382-95288."

"Let me try something," Finn said and he opened up the other leap phone. He punched in some numbers and his face appeared on the small screen. "Is this coming through?"

"Yeah, but it's all fuzzy and staticy. I can't see your face very well," Yukina said. Ruri walked up to the leap phone and kicked it. "What was that for?" Ruri pointed at the screen, which was now displaying Finn's face clearly. 

Finn wrote down the number and stuck it, along with a handful of CCs into his pocket. He and Ryoko wore their pilot suits in case they ended up boson jumping somewhere outside the UF's lunar base. He had a backpack on his back, which contained even more CCs, two guns, extra oxygen, and the second leap phone, which was about the size of a fire extinguisher and just barely fit in the backpack.

"Ok, we'll see you in bit," Finn said.

"Have a safe trip!" Yurika chirped.

"You think she was seeing us off on our honeymoon or something," Ryoko mumbled. They grabbed each other's hands, closed their eyes and pictured their destination. Within a split second, they had disappeared.

"What the? Waaa!" Finn cried as he fell, having materialized several meters above the hangar floor. "Ow!" Ryoko landed, feet first, on his stomach. "I'm going to be feeling that one in the morning." They heard the familiar clicking of the safety being taken off machine guns.

"Stop right there!" someone yelled.

"Um…hi?" Finn said, hauling himself up off the floor. "We come in peace."

"You're about to leave in pieces," one of the gun wielding men said.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Finn asked himself.

…to be continued in Act 8

                             **End of ****Act 7**


	8. Enter the Pilot: Act 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

**Act 8**

****

**Idiots**

          'Why do I sense a recurring pattern here?' Finn thought as he and Ryoko sat chained to their chairs in an interrogation room. The supreme commander of the UF stood at one end of the tiny room, and a security officer wearing dark glasses at the other.

          "Look, we really don't have time to stay and chat. We're kind of in a hurry," Finn said.

          "You're not going anywhere," Commander said. "Do you really expect us to believe this? That this…thing destroyed one of the Jovian moons? Are you insane?"

          "This is exactly what I was afraid of," Finn said to Ryoko.

          "Next time I'll just keep my mouth shut," she said.

          "It's not your fault. We've got a bunch of loonybins…"

          "Silence!" Commander shouted. "Do you have any proof to back up your claim?" Finn jingled the handcuffs that restrained him against the chair. The officer looked at the Commander, who nodded slightly. Finn's cuffs were unlocked, but his feet still remained chained. 

          "Just watch," he said, and hit a button on the communicator on his wrist. A vidwindow popped up. "Play video logs Zero Hour," The screen fizzled for a moment and then began to show a battle. "The view you're seeing here is from our cockpit while we were fighting the Division. We hooked up with some former Jovian troops and were going to destroy the Division while it was still young. Anyway, watch what happens right here. Pay attention to the top left part of the screen." The screen moved in slow motion and showed the massive wave of Zero's first blast, ripping a clear line right through the battle.

          "It just looks like an oversized gravity blast. What's so special about it?" Commander asked. Finn flipped through some of the later parts of the battle until he came across the part where Zero destroyed Ganymede. "I don't believe this. This can't be real; it must be a trick."

          "It's real. Why do you think we came back here?" Ryoko demanded.

          "Deserting, fleeing court martial…"

          "We came back to get help! Why do you think we came _here_ of all places?!"

          "Why should we help you?" 

Finn rolled his eyes. "Because this thing's not content with blowing up a moon. Here, take a look at this," he opened another window and displayed the text messages they had received. 

          "This is all some trick, some ploy to get us to surrender the remaining forces…"

          "Open your fucking eyes!" Ryoko shouted. "We're not trying to deceive you morons. We're trying to bail your ass out of the fire."

          "Look, if it would make you feel any better, do you want to talk to Captain Misumaru? She can back us up," said Finn, motioning to the backpack that was on the table. Commander nodded, the officer took off his glasses and carefully opened the bag. He took out the leap phone and examined it. Finn and Ryoko's eyes widened slightly when he handed it to them. He heaved a sigh.

          "It's my eye, isn't it?" he said, looking at them with one brown eye and one light blue eye.

          "Why would we want to look at your eye? Is there something wrong with that weird eye?" Finn asked.

          "There's nothing wrong with my eye, this one just has no pigment. I'm what you'd call a partial ocular albino. Now, you seriously want to use this thing to call your captain?"

          "Are you kidding? I'd give my right eye." 

          "Do you know how it works? It looks complicated."

          "I like to think I have an eye for detail," the officer's eye twitched. Finn took the device and punched in the numbers.

          "Hello?" came a voice from the other end of the signal. "Oh, Saotome, we've been waiting for you to call. What took you so long?"

          "Never mind that," Commander said. "How is this possible? If you were orbiting Jupiter there would a long delay in the signal."

          "It's called a leap phone. But never mind how it works. What did you want to speak to me about?" Yurika asked.

          "What is your motive in sending these two to spy on us?"

          Finn and Ryoko facefaulted. 

          "For the last time! WE-ARE-NOT-SPIES!!" Ryoko shouted.

          "We sent them to you to ask if we could borrow the Cosmos and Skylinx, along with any other forces you have available, to help us defeat Zero. I don't think it's too much to ask," Yurika said. "Pretty please?"

          "Why should we?" asked Commander. This time it was Finn's eye that twitched.

          "Because if you don't, there's a good chance Zero will defeat us, leaving Earth and Jupiter totally vulnerable to attack," Yurika said. 

          "See? We're not lying," Finn added.

          "We're currently preparing for an assault and need everyone both sides can spare," Yurika continued. "I trust Lt. Saotome has shown you the video logs we recorded?"

          "Yes, he has. But I still don't see why we should help you."

          "There's an awful lot of paperwork," the bureaucratic officer added.

          "We'll go through it with a fine-toothed come, cross the Ts and dot the…" Finn noticed the officer's hand reaching for his gun, his weird eye twitching slightly. "lower case Js."   

          "So what's it going to be?" Ryoko asked. The Commander shook his head.

          "Are you blind or something? Earth alone can't stop this thing; neither can the Jovians stop it, by themselves. Only with our combined forces do we stand a chance. This isn't like before where you just sit in your bunker and watch your troops die. I can guarantee you that no body's safe. They want to destroy humanity; it's as simple as that. So if you're going to help us, say so now. If not, then stop wasting our fucking time," Finn said, slamming his hands down on the table. "It's like I'm talking to the broccoli." There was silence for a few minutes.

          "I'm ordering you two executed for giving false information," Commander said, smashing the leap phone against the floor. "Sergeant, kill them at once. I swore I'd never forgive the Nadesico, and I'm not about to start now!" 

          "Whiney little bastard," Finn grabbed Ryoko's hand, which was still cuffed to her chair, in one hand and the backpack with the other. "Well, if that's the way you're going to play. See you," They disappeared, leaving only a pile of chains and handcuffs behind and a small sparkle of bose particles.

          "That could have gone better," Ryoko said when they rematerialized. 

          "I'm not all that surprised about it though. Good thing I had a CC on me," Finn replied, taking a look around. "Where are we, anyway? I don't really remember having any destination in mind when we jumped."

          "It looks like the Nadesico, but I don't recognize this part," Ryoko said, looking around.

          "Welcome, Saotome, Subaru. We've been expecting you," came a voice from behind them. Finn grabbed his gun from the backpack and aimed at the owner of the voice.

          "Akatsuki," Finn said, pulling the trigger.

**Skylinx**

          "I'm afraid that's not going to work, my friend," Akatsuki said smugly. "This ship's bee rigged with internal distortion fields to prevent any nonsense. I have business to discus with you, so I'd appreciate it if you kept your anger from clouding the issue."         

          "And what would that be?" Finn asked.

          "Please, come this way," Akatsuki began down the corridor. Finn bit his lip and holstered the gun, even though every fibre of his being told him to pull the trigger again and again until Akatsuki lay dead on the floor.

          "So what's the 'business' you have with me?" Finn asked when they reached their destination, which looked a lot like the bridge of the Nadesico. He assumed it must be the bridge of the ship they were on.

          "It would appear that we were totally wrong about the origin phase transition technology," Akatsuki said, taking a seat. "I guess it really was man that discovered it." Finn was about to open his mouth when Akatsuki put his hand up to silence him. "Do you think I'd just let the Nadesico go? I've been watching you the whole time. Every sensor reading and video log recorded by the Nadesico is sent directly to me. I've been watching your every move, and I must say I'm surprised. Even I didn't know about this new faction of people. However, since it appears they're out to destroy the human race, I think it would be more profitable to help you guys out a little."

          "Uh huh. Well. Unlike the UF commander, we actually have reason to be suspicious. So why should we trust you?" Finn asked.

          "Still paranoid I see," Akatsuki smirked. "It's good to see you haven't changed much. It makes you all the more predictable."

          'Bastard,' thought Finn. 'We've probably been playing into his hands the whole time! I've been careless.'

          "Just one question. Why aren't you rotting in some cell like you're supposed to?" Ryoko asked.

          "You don't bite the hand that feeds you," Akatsuki said smugly. "Nergal supplies the UF with the most advanced military technology on the face of the Earth. Do you really think they'd let all that go to waste? I'm sorry Saotome, I hate to sound like the classic villain here, but you should have finished me off when you had the chance." 

          "We're set to launch, sir," some one said. "All systems green."

          "You came in search of help, and beggars can't be choosers. So you should take this chance, it's what Yurika would do. Both the Cosmos and the Skylinx are standing by to jump. You know that this is bigger than both of us. Do you want our help or not?"

          "On one condition," Finn said. "Neither you, or any of your crew are to set foot on the Nadesico."

          "You're not seriously going to trust him, are you?" Ryoko asked, surprised.

"I'm not going to trust him, but, as much as I hate to admit it, he's right. This is what the Captain wanted and this is bigger than both of us. I know I'll hate myself in the morning for this." He turned back to Akatsuki. "I'll accept your offer, but only if you agree to my condition,"

"Agreed. Now, since you appear to be in a bit of a rush, come this way," Akatsuki led them off the bridge. "For some reason, boson jump technology only works on the observation decks of ships. Curious, isn't it?"

"Spare me your bullshit," Finn said. "Just remember that we may be working together, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Quite a temper, wouldn't you say?" Akatsuki asked Ryoko, who glared at his smugness. 

'And I thought he was obnoxious before,' she though. She could see what Finn despised so much about the guy. He acted as though the world belonged to him and anything that got in his way, he'd just weasel his way around it. 

"I take it you have enough CCs to get us to Jupiter?" Finn asked, still trying to figure Akatsuki's ulterior motivation for helping them. 'All I have to do is find out what he's after.'

"We have enough to jump an entire fleet. I just hope you two are up to the trip. You've had quite a day."

"We'll be fine," Ryoko said. 

"Just remember that the Captain and Commander Sakura are in charge. You're here to help, not to take over," added Finn.

"I assure you, I have no private ulterior motive," Akatsuki said. 

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because this time it's true," Finn snorted in disgust at this remark. "Anyway, we're here." They stepped through a doorway and entered the observation deck. It looked, more or less, like the one on the Nadesico. There was a tree, they couldn't tell if it was fake or real, situated on a grassy slope, at the bottom of which lay a pile of equipment, cords running across the floor and computer monitors set up on boxes. "I have on favour to ask of you before we jump."

"What's that?" asked Finn.

"I'd like to pilot my old aestivalis. Sentimental value, you know. I trust it's still on the Nadesico?"

"It's still there, collecting dust. I'll tell Seiya to ship it your way." 

"Good. Now it's time for you two to fulfill your end of the bargain, you just…"

"We know the drill," Finn and Ryoko took their places. 

"You sure about this?" Ryoko asked.

"As much he disgusts me, we've got no other choice. Believe me, if there was any other way…"

"I know," she said and they took their places. 

"This might feel a little different than your last time jumping a ship, since you don't have Tenkawa or Yurika here," Akatsuki said, standing by a computer where a techie was working away. "Are we ready?"

"Yes sir. All systems green."

"Good. Start sequence." Akatsuki watched on as the bose particle waves flowed through the networks in Finn and Ryoko's bodies. "Incredible, isn't it?" A second later, they were on the dark side of Jupiter, not far from the Nadesico and the Jovian fleet.

"We're receiving an incoming transmission from the Nadesico," Erina said from the bridge. Neither Finn nor Ryoko had noticed her there before.

'I guess two hungers for power attract,' thought Finn.

"Greetings, Captain. It's good to see you again," Akatsuki said when the vidwindow appeared.

"Akatsuki? What the hell?" came Akito's voice.

"Just what is going on here? Where are Ryoko and Saotome?" Yurika asked.

"Don't worry, they came with us voluntarily, they're right here, if you want to speak to them. I must say, I never expected to fight along side you again, especially under these circumstances."

"Anyway, we're done here. Wait until the Captain gives you your instructions. Have both the Cosmos and Skylinx ready for battle," Finn said. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that?" Akatsuki asked.

"If you're pulling something, I'll hunt you down," Finn said. His tone was that of suspicion and hatred. Ryoko figured it wasn't humanly possible for a human being to hate someone as strongly as Finn hated Akatsuki.

'Not that I blame him,' she added to herself. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said, pulling a CC from her pocket and the boson jumped back to the Nadesico.

"I was going to send a shuttle for you…" Yurika began when they appeared on the bridge of the Nadesico, but stopped when she saw Finn's expression. "Just what happened to you anyway?"

They recounted their tale of interrogation, sentenced to death, jumped bye bye, and meeting 'the sneaky reptile of a human being' (as Finn put it) Akatsuki.

"I think I've made it pretty clear to him that you're in charge," Finn said. "Not that he'll listen to me," he added under his breath.

"I just can't believe you were able to get along with him," Yurika said. "I mean, last time I had to cuff you to a handrail."

"Believe me, Captain, it was with great restraint," Ryoko said.

"Well, at least you didn't kill him." 

"No matter how hard I tried," Finn mumbled. "Anyway, enough about him. I take it you've decided our battle plan?"

"Yes," Yurika said and she opened a vidwindow with a picture of Jupiter and its moons. "It wouldn't be strategically wise to send in one huge force, not with their main gun. It could blow us out of the sky before we even made it within firing range. We're going to split up into three groups and attack in a triangular form. Remember to stay away from the projected range of fire from Zero's main gun. The Nadesico will be in group 1, the Cosmos in group 2, and the Skylinx in group 3. You will attack at these points," three red dots blinked on and off on the screen. "Ryoko, Saotome, you'll be with us and attack at the top point of the triangle. Our first objective is to take out Zero's distortion field. All aestivalis will be equipped with Seiya's field countermeasure and will try and neutralize Zero's field."

"Hold it a sec," Finn said. "Just how strong is this field?"

"We're not exactly sure. However, from our readouts, it seems to be roughly the same strength as the fields that covered Fort Mag, only as one field. We'll have twelve aestivalis in total working to counter the field, which increases our chances of success. After the field has been neutralized, we will commence a full barrage and, hopefully destroy their main cannon before they have a chance to fire. The operation will commence in about an hour. So I'd get something to eat, if I were you," Yurika said. 

"I feel like I'm living in an episode of Dragon Ball Z," Finn said as they left the bridge. "Every time we defeat one enemy, a stronger one takes its place."

"True, but I don't think things could get much worse than this. I mean, we're fighting a frigging moon now. I don't see how it could get much worse," Ryoko said. Suddenly, she stopped.

          "What is it?"

          "Follow me," she grabbed him by the wrist and took off down the corridor towards the hangar, dragging Finn behind her.

          'Hey, that's what I'm supposed to do. Author, you bastard!' Finn thought.

          "Sorry, but I think it's about time Ryoko was given the spotlight for sec," the author said. "Now get back to work."

          "Seiya!" Ryoko shouted when they got to the hangar floor. "Where are you?"  They found him with his model diorama. Finn, by this time, had been dragged and smashed into several walls, garbage cans, and vending machines, and was in a swirly eyed daze. When he finally snapped out of it, he noticed Akito's aesti getting ready to tow Akatsuki's frame over to the Skylinx. "Seiya, you remember those missiles you loaded onto Jetstream, right?"

          "Yeah, what about them? I hope you didn't use them already," Seiya said, putting down a model.

          "What exactly did you say they did?"

          "They neutralize any distortion field on contact. It creates a concentrated counter-field. Why?"

          "Ahh, I see what you're getting at now," Finn said to himself.

          "We can use them to knock out Zero's distortion field without having to expose the aestivalis. Are they strong enough to counteract a field as strong as Zero's?" asked Ryoko.

          "Maybe, I'm not sure if they'd work against something that big though. I mean, they were designed with battleships in mind, not moons. I could try boosting their power, if you want. I don't know how effective they'll turn out to be, but…"

          "Do it." 

          Finn opened a vidwindow to the bridge.

          "Hey Captain, can we switch your way of taking out Zero's field to plan B?" he asked.

          "What have you come up with now?" Yurika asked.

          "Hey, don't give me any of the credit. Thank Ryoko here. We have a couple of missiles that, according to Seiya, will take out a distortion field on contact. We'd like to give them a try," Finn said.

          "Can it be done?"

          "I think so. I think it's worth a shot."

          "Go for it. We'll send you two with a small guard force within firing range. But if that doesn't work, I want you to pull back and go with the original plan," Yurika warned. "I'll radio the other ships and let them know of the change of plans."

          "Can do, Captain," Ryoko said. "Get to work!" she kicked Seiya away from his models and in Jetstream's direction.

          "Man, I love you," Finn had waterfalls streaming from his eyes as he looked at Ryoko. 

          * Ahem * the author would like to apologize for how boring Act 8 has been thus far. However, I can assure you that in it will pick up now. I just needed a couple of pages to get everything ready. Thank you for your patience. We now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfic.  

**Operation Zero Hour**

          "All ships are in position. Jetstream has launched and is currently joining its guard force. Once they reach rendezvous point, they will begin moving towards Zero," Ruri reported.

          "Standby on the PT cannon, keep it on continuous recharge," Yurika ordered and opened a vidwindow. "Sakura, is your battlegroup ready?" 

          "Yes, Captain. What about Akatsuki?" Sakura asked.

          "Akatsuki, is your group ready? Yurika asked.

          "We're all set. Just give us the word," Akatsuki said from his aestivalis. There were three other aestis with him, all fully armed and ready to go.

          "Jetstream has met the grasshopper squadron and is en route. They will be within firing range in twenty seconds," Ruri said.

          "Operation will commence as soon has the field is deactivated," Yurika ordered. "Ruri, keep your sensors on that field. If it's not countered by Ryoko and Saotome, I want you to call them back immediately."

          "We're almost in range," Finn and Ryoko said from Jetstream's cockpit. "Firing in 5, 4, 3, 2,1, launch!" they fired their first missile, and followed it's green trail of thrust gasses as it shot through space. After the first few thousand kilometers, they lost sight of it.

          "Contact," Ruri said. "I am unable to determine what the field strength is. Interference from the PT cannon's charge is distorting my readings.

          "We've got an idea," they said, and fired a standard missile. By this time they had cut their thrust back to 10% and were slowly creeping closer to Zero. The missile disappeared from view, but they followed its projected course. 

'Come on Seiya, don't let me down,' Ryoko thought. There was a small blue flash where the missile connected with Zero's distortion field.

          "No hit. Zero's field is still operational," Ruri said.

          "Call them back, get ready for Plan B," Yurika ordered.

          "Jetsream, come in. Pull back, we're going with Plan B, over," Megumi said. 

          "Not yet," they said. "Give us a few more seconds,"

          "Denied. Return to our lines," Yurika ordered. 

          "They've turned off their communication signal, Captain," Megumi said.

          "Hot heads," Yurika said to herself. "We'll just have to go along without them. Get ready for Plan B, we start in one minute."

          Ruri remained silent and watched the monitors. "They've fired their second countermeasure," she said when another green contrail of gasses could be seen. 

          Immediately after firing the second counter-missile, Jetstream launched two standard missiles timed to hit a few seconds after the first. Even though Yurika had ordered to abandon Plan A, everyone still held their breath and watched.

          "Counter-missile has made contact," Ruri said. The next few seconds felt like hours to everyone. It wasn't only Jupiter's fate that hung in the balance, but Mars, Earth, the Moon, and life as they new it. It could boil down to this one shot. "Second missile has made contact. Minor damage along Zero's outer hull."

          "It worked?" Yurika asked. "Nadesico to all ships, commence operation A. Ruri, fire the PT cannon, keep it on continuous recharge."

          From the bridge's monitors, they watched as the aestivalis and hundreds of grasshoppers and dimojin robots flew forward in a massive cloud.

          "We told you it'd work," Finn and Ryoko said. 

          "Let's go kick some ass!" Akito shouted.

          'I think Tenkawa's a few fruit short of a loop,' Ryoko thought.

          'Nah, I was the same way till I got blown apart a few times. Let's go!' Finn replied. They hit the thrusters and took point at the front of battlegroup 1's force. Off in the distance, at attack points two and three, they could see the other forces en route. As soon as they were in range, they flipped the twin cannons forward and charged them up/

          'Haha! Eat this!' Ryoko thought as they unleashed their blastwave, which was low power for Jetstream, but awesome nonetheless. The blast ripped through the outer skin of Zero, sending bits and pieces flying off into space. 

          "Alright, we're in range. Let 'em have it!" Akito ordered and he and the other aesti pilots drew their rail guns. He held the trigger down and launched charge after charge into Zero's hull.

          "Save your ammo, the battle's just begun," Finn and Ryoko warned Akito. "They might pull something." A few kilometers away they saw the first blast from the PT cannon gouge city-sized hole out of Zero. The formations of fighters broke when they got within a few hundred meters of the surface. Small groups broke away and spread out. 

          'My spider sense is tingling,' Finn thought.

          'Too easy, right?'

          'Bingo,' Jetstream shook slightly as a blast from the surface was absorbed by their distortion field. 'That's what I was afraid of,' 

          "A large number of high-mobile enemy units are being launched from Zero. Surface defense systems have been activated as well. Watch your flanks," Ruri said, firing another PT blast into the moon. 

          "Roger that," they said as they transformed Jetstream to robot mode and drew its sword. A few hundred meters ahead of them was one of the enemy fighters. It was slightly smaller than Jetstream and similar in shape, being a robot. It held a machinegun-like device in its hands and had a large shield attached to its back. The robot noticed them and opened fire. A cloud of yellow bolts flew past them at amazing speed.

          'Must be some kind of mini-gravity cannon or something,' Finn surmised.

          'Not all that different from what those demolishers used, only they seem to go a lot faster,' Ryoko added. 

          They skimmed along through a small canyon that had been formed along Zero's surface, which, up close, was covered in tall structures that looked like skyscrapers. From the sides of which, enemy guns tried to shoot them out of the sky. They quickly flew below the enemy robot and tried to run their sword through it from below. However, their blade was stopped by the crackling energy waves of a distortion field. Quickly, they deployed their own field to weaken the other and grabbed it by its arm. They swung the enemy robot around before bringing it around and impaling it on the sword. They shook the twitching robot off as sparks flew from its wound, deployed their cannons, and fired a blast across the surface, vaporizing several of the enemy units and knocking down a few skyscrapers. When they fell, rock was exposed not far beneath. They concluded that this had once been a naturally formed moon, but had been hollowed out and reconstructed into a weapon. The surface, and the airspace above it, was a melee of grasshoppers, dimojins, and aestivalis. It was hard to tell who was winning. Then, a massive shockwave knocked everybody off their balance as the moon's main gun fired. Off in the distance they could see the faint flashes of explosions as the blast struck the left wing of the Nadesico's battlegroup, vaporizing several its own units in the process.

          'They're destroying their own troops? And I thought the Division was low,' Ryoko thought.

          'Watch it, three on our tail,' Finn warned as he looked behind them. 'Damn, those things are fast.' They transformed to fighter mode and took off, trying to ditch the enemy units that were playing a lethal game of follow-the-leader. 

          "This isn't going very well," they heard Yurika say. "We're not causing enough damage. That thing's just too big." Finn and Ryoko decided to look for themselves. In a move that would have killed the pilot of any other frame, they pulled a 90-degree turn straight up and thrust high above the battle.

          'She's right. Look at that. It looks like a moon with acne,' thought Finn. "We're just not causing enough damage.'

          'We're too busy with the small fries,' Ryoko added. 'And they've got us too busy to pull back and regroup.'

          "Hey Captain, how are things going at the other sites?" they asked as they flew back down to rejoin the battle.

          "Pretty much the same. The Cosmos and Skylinx are firing their gravity blasts, but its like throwing grains of sand at a wasp nest. Hang on a sec, we're getting an incoming transmission." Megumi patched the message through to Jetstream.

"_Your efforts are in vain. Submit now, or we shall exercise disciplinary action against you. End com._"

          "What do they have planned, something worse than destruction?" they said mockingly.

                    "_Failure to submit. End com._" Zero's main cannon fired again, however, this time it appeared to fire off into space with no intended target. 

          "They missed!" Yurika cheered. 

          'Something's not right here…' Finn thought. 

          "Captain, what did they fire at? Did you suffer any losses?" Sakura asked from her dimojin.

          "We didn't sustain any damage, the blast just flew off into space without hitting anything,' Yurika replied. 

          'No time to think about that now, let's just get back in there,' Ryoko thought, and they dove back into the battle. They flew straight down towards the moon. With the twin cannons they unleashed an onslaught of blasts into the swarm of enemy robots, which, for the purposes of this fanfic, shall hereon be referred to as slingshots. When they had blasted a clear hole into the slingshots' defensive line, ramjets moved in and their lines began to slowly advance. Many of the aestivalis had moved down into the buildings along Zero's surface and were fighting on the 'streets', passages between structures that looked remarkably like those of a city. Akito and his squad were holding a section of city directly below the airspace where dimojin and ramjet units were fighting off the attacking slingshots. Jetstream transformed to robot mode and landed beside Hikaru and Kumi, who were taking cover behind a building. Their railguns were beginning to run low on ammunition and the slingshots were beginning to gain ground.

          "Hikaru, Izumi, cover me. Kumi you're with me," Akito said as he got ready to charge the enemy. However, Finn and Ryoko put their hand on Akito's shoulder and shook their head. "Why not?"

          "Let us show you how it's done," they said, grinning. They drew their sword and fired a blast into the ground, sending a cloud of metal shards and dust up into the area. Quickly, they dove into the cloud. When they shot out the other side, the slingshot units weren't expecting a frontal assault and were caught off guard. Jetstream quickly severed the torso from the rest of the body of one and sliced another one down the middle. Further back, more enemy units had come to reinforce their lines. Finn and Ryoko quickly picked up the useless arm of one of the fallen robots dove into the space between two structures. "It's like fighting in a city," They motioned for Akito and his squad to advance. They put their sword back into its place in the left wing and pulled the useless hands of the slingshot off the gun it was holding. Gradually, their dimojin allies began to come down to the surface, where there was better cover and gravity, which would both work to their advantage. Finn and Ryoko took the unknown enemy's weapon and opened fire. It felt a lot like holding a machinegun, only having, what they both assumed to be, mini-gravity shots being fired from it.

          As more and more assistance came from above, with more Alliance and Division forces descending into the city streets, they began to quickly advance. However, they were vastly outnumbered. For every slingshot you shot down, a dozen more would take its place. They were soon deadlocked in city warfare, neither line advancing or losing much ground.

          "Captain, I've been feeding the main monitor images to the asteroid colony, as you requested. But I'm not getting any response. The signal's not reaching them anymore," Megumi said.

          "Contact the guard-ship we left behind and ask for a status report," ordered Yurika. 

          "I'm not getting anything, Captain,"

          "Hang on a second. Ruri, trace the line of Zero's last shot. What was its projected heading?" Yurika asked.

          "Calculating," Ruri said. "It would appear that the asteroid colony was in the direct line of fire. Projections indicate that it has been destroyed."

          "So that's what they meant by 'disciplinary action'," Yurika said, staring at the floor.

          "Should we tell them?" Megumi asked, referring to the pilots and other soldiers out on the battlefield. 

          "No, that's not the kind of thing they need to hear right now," Yurika said. "They'd get angry and careless. I don't want anything distracting them."

          "PT cannon is fully charged again, Captain," Ruri reported. 

          "Aim for the Zero's main gun, see if you can take it out," 

          "Aye, ma'am," Ruri turned the Nadesico and fired the blast clean into the hole from which Zero's awesome power erupted from, or at least, that's what they hope would happen. The PT cannon's blast struck something before it reached Zero's cannon.

          "What happened?"

          "It's another distortion field. It's blocking the area around the cannon, we can't damage it as long as it's active," Ruri replied. 

          "Excuse me, Captain?" Mika said. "But wouldn't now be a good time to try and use Fortress Magnum? Our forces are deadlocked; they're not getting anywhere. It could be the only way win this battle."

          Meanwhile, they were holding their ground, but the enemy was doing the same. 

          "Damn, I'm out of ammo," Akito said, clicking his projectile depleted railgun back into its place on his aesti's back. Jetstream handed him a slingshot gun they had been using. 

          Ahead of them, the slingshot robots had hunkered down, having made a strong defensive barrier using their shields. A line of the robots had knelt down and held their shields, which were surprisingly strong, in front of them. 

          "Don't waste your ammo on their shield. Only fire if you get a clean shot," Finn and Ryoko said. An explosion sent a few dimojin units behind them soaring into the air and then crashing to the ground not far behind them. Jetstream grabbed one of the broken dimojin's arms and dragged it behind the wall of a building. "Anyone in there?" they asked, trying to make contact with the pilot. "Sorry about this, but since nobody seems to be home…" They hauled the robot up and held it in front of them. Using the dimojin as a shield, Jetstream, along with Akito, Hikaru, and two other dimojins, stormed the enemy lines. Most of the hits were absorbed by the broken dimojin. When they were close enough, Jetstream threw the robot up and over the enemy shield. Akito tossed an explosive charge after it. A massive shockwave blew them back as the dimojin's PT engine-core was punctured by the explosive. During the confusion, Jetstream and their comrades stormed the few remaining slingshot units, and were able to advance a couple hundred meters. More enemy robots appeared out of a section of the street that had been blown away.

          'Must be some kind of hangar,' Ryoko concluded.

          'Let's check it out then,' they drew the sword and dug it deep into the surface. When they had cut a large circle into it, they smashed Jetstream's foot through, causing the pieces to collapse and cave in on one another. The wreckage crashed onto floor after floor, until if finally smashed through and fell into some kind of open space. 

          "Just need to borrow this for once sec," they said, grabbing one of Akito's charges and chucking it down the hole. They stepped back and waited until the explosion blew several broken enemy units flying out of the hole. "Come on!" They dove into the hole, sword drawn and guns ready. 

          'What the hell?' Finn asked himself. Inside looked like some kind of factory. Pieces of slingshot robots were being put together and then launched out a central catapult.

          'It's some kind of factory,' Ryoko concluded. 

          'Then let's take it out,' they ran towards the manufacturing device with their sword raised. However, before they reached it, they encountered some kind of barrier. 'It's a distortion field.'

          'We've still got one missile left, should we use it?'

          'Nah, not yet.'

          "Hey Tenkawa, get your ass down here! Bring some fireworks with you," they shouted.

          "We've got the upper block secured. Just flushing out the…what the hell?" Akito asked when he descended into the open space. 

          "How many charges you got left?"

          "Two," Akito answered, bewildered by what he saw.

          "Snap out of it man, give one to me," they held out their hand and Akito placed one of the motorcycle-sized explosives in it. "Fire in the hole!" they cried, chucking it at the area where the distortion field. The force of the blast blew them both back against the wall.

          "Setting those things off inside a moon isn't exactly the best idea I've ever heard of," Akito said, shaking the stars from his eyes. "Especially when your INSIDE the planet!"

          "Tell us about it later," they said and grabbed Akito's last charge. "Head back up to the surface and take them out. We'll handle things down here. Good hunting." They climbed through the wreckage the explosion had caused to come crashing down on them and pressed their way further into the plant. They quickly reached the main manufacturing mechanism. Wasting no time, they drove their sword as far as they could into a panel that they guessed to be some kind of computer. It sparked and sizzled. Not two to wasting a perfectly good wound, they thrust their free arm into the opening and pulled the computers innards out. The machine began to work twice as fast as it did before, causing a backup at the catapult. 

          'Oops. Finn thought. Then he noticed the robots that hadn't been launched yet were advancing on them. Their guns were mounted on their backs and they carried a mean looking swordlike weapon. It was roughly half as long as they were tall and split into a V shape near the tip. Kind of like some twisted hybrid between a sword and a dangerously oversized pair of scissors. They dropped Akito's last charge into a small storage clip on Jetstream's waist, took the sword by both hands and charged the growing group of robots.

          "I thought you said you were going to 'handle things' down there?! The enemy force just doubled!" Akito screamed.

          "It's on our to-do list!" they shot back, locked in combat with the slingshots. Fortunately, the space was small enough so that only two or three slingshot robots were actually clear to take a shot at them at a time. Their sword slid into the V in one of the slingshot's weapons. The right hand let go of the sword while the left continued to try and force it's way down the centre of the enemy weapon. They pushed forward and came face-to-face with the enemy slingshot. Using their free hand they delivered a forceful punch to the robot's chestplate. The slingshot seemed to cock its head to one side, as though it pondered what exactly its opponent had accomplished. With a smirk, Finn and Ryoko opened fire from the right arms guns, ripping the robot into shards. The armour seemed to melt away, and the inner structure fell to pieces under the hailstorm of bullets. The slingshot's weapon fell to the floor, but was picked up by Jetstream before it settled on. Finn and Ryoko threw the enemy weapon spinning into the group of slingshots, knocking them back. With the twin cannons deployed, they fired a low power blast into the group. Since they were working in an enclosed space in such close proximity to one another, the enemys' distortion fields were next to useless, and they melted into deformed pieces of bubbling slag. Finn and Ryoko picked up a section of the melted mess, which quickly solidified in the exposed environment, and jammed it between the two 'arms' of the machine. The arms struggled against the straining metal. 

          'That's not going to last long,' Ryoko thought as they picked up the charge and magnetically connected it to one of the arms. 

          'Neither will our merry mechanical men,' they skidded back to the opening and used Jetstream's arms to brace themselves against the immanent explosion. 

          'What the?'

          'Damn thing must be jammed,' they took a few steps closer. 'It should have blew by now.'

          'Wait a second! Wait a second!' Ryoko's mind screamed as they reached out to pick up the defective explosive, which wasn't so defective when the vibrations from Jetstream set it off. They were briefly engulfed in a fireball, but that was soon replaced by a mountain of collapsing metal components raining down on them. The floor below them collapsed and they tumbled down into the moon's bowels.

          "I am no longer registering Jetstream's energy signature," Ruri said. "A large explosion was detonated a few meters below the surface, after that there is no reading on them."

**The Belly of the Beast**

          "Ouch," Finn and Ryoko said as they hauled themselves out of the pile of scrap in which they were buried. "Tenkawa, you there?" they got noting but static. They hit the lights mounted on the main cameras that fed visual data into the cockpit IFS since it was pitch black. 

          'Where are we?' Ryoko asked. 

          'Beats me,' Finn replied as they put Jetstream back firmly on its feet. They took a long sweep with the lights over their surroundings. Anything close to them was just a pile of debris, however…

          'Wow shit, is that what I think it is?' Ryoko asked as they zoomed in on not-so-unfamiliar object. 

          'A bike?' Finn asked as they picked the object up. He looked through the radar scan of the space they were in. From those readings, they determined that they were in a large, open space. The few hundred meters or so had tall structures stretching high in the air. A couple hundred meters of open space came after that. They hit the thrusters and slowly ascended to about halfway between the ceiling of the massive space and the skyward structures. They fired a scattered shot of red flares into the sky, which illuminated the sky in an eerie red light.

          'Oh my gah…' Ryoko's brain tried to comprehend just what exactly they were seeing. It was a city. It stretched for miles and miles in every direction, with tall skyscrapers lining the streets, which had sidewalks, trees, benches, and everything you'd expect to find along city streets.

          'I guess that answers a few questions. Damn, and I thought the Jovian colonies were huge," Finn thought. A bright light above the smooth ceiling began to flicker before it managed to stay on, illuminating the city.

          "Attention Madorian citizens, due to structural collapse the atmosphere has been released. Please stay indoors until the atmosphere is restored," came a booming voice from behind the artificial sun that lit the city.

          'Um…' Finn was at a loss for words. Not that was all that surprised to find people living under Zero's surface, but of finding such an expanse as the one that lay before him. 

          "Alert! Alert!" the voice boomed again. "Intruders have penetrated C-block and have entered Madori city 09-A. All combat personnel, report to stations and begin emergency checklists. Civilians, move to shelters. Combat alert!" Several large sections of the city's streets slid aside and slingshot robots were elevated out of them. Some of them grabbed their guns while others drew their blades, but they all began to make their way towards Finn and Ryoko in Jetstream.

          'What are you looking at?' Finn asked the enemy. 'You looking at me? You want a piece of me? Let's see what you got!' Ryoko gave him a mental punch to the face. 'Ow. What was that for?'

          'We're over a city you moron! We can't risk killing a bunch of civilians, even if they are on the enemy side,' Ryoko told him. They quickly evaded an incoming volley of gravity blasts from the enemy slingshots. They missed and were sent careening into buildings, blowing out sections and floors, sending debris crashing to the street.

          'You have any better ideas?' Finn asked as they detached the right wing shield and descended to the city streets. Shots ricocheted off the shield and into buildings, furthering the slingshot's destruction of their own buildings. 'I don't believe this, even the UF didn't blow up their own buildings!'

          'I think it's time for a little safety lesson,' Ryoko readied the flashbombs. They fired them out of a side launcher and high into the air. They both closed their eyes as a blinding flash of light filled the streets. While the slingshots were recovering, Finn and Ryoko charged the first line of the robots. They impaled the first one and ripped its torso vertically in half before pushing it aside and beheading the next. The robots a further down the street opened fire and Jetstream picked up one of the fallen robots to use it as a shield. They grabbed the gun from its hand and returned fire before diving behind the relative safety of partially collapsed building. 'There's too many of them.'

          'You think these buildings are evacuated?' asked Finn.

          'Could be, they mentioned something about shelters,' Ryoko replied.

          'I've got an idea,' They charged up the twin cannons and brought the machineguns online. Quickly, they rushed across the street. Ryoko took control of the machineguns and fired them at the group of enemy units while Finn, using Ryoko's distraction, fired from the twin cannons and blew away the first floors of two buildings opposite their enemies, causing them to lean into the street and collapse, burying the enemy robots in a heap of rubble. 'Haha! There goes the neighbourhood!'

          'Spare me the clichés,' Ryoko said.

The city quietened and Finn and Ryoko rested Jetstream's back against the wall of a narrow alley, which they had managed to squeeze into. The radar was clear and there were no heat signatures big enough to be enemy units, so they took this chance to catch their breath.

          "Think they're gone?" Ryoko asked as they disconnected themselves from the IFS.

          "Beats me," Finn replied, a bead of sweat rolling down his face, dripping onto his suit. "Just when you think things couldn't get any worse, we have to tumble down the rabbit hole and into wonderland."

          "You don't suppose it'd hurt take a look around, do you?" Ryoko asked. "I don't think we should be expecting anyone for a while, reinforcements would be here already if they sent them." Finn slid open a compartment under his seat and pulled out two military assault rifles. 

          "If you don't mind a few travel accessories," he said, clipping a band of grenades across his waist. Ryoko popped the hatch open and they climbed out and onto the street. It felt like stepping into any normal Earth city street. There were cars, trees, sidewalks, stores, skyscrapers, it was all there. Since they had come down through a hole in the ceiling the city environment existed in a vacuum. Finn looked up at the hole high above them. However, something sparked his interest. The hole appeared to be getting smaller. "What the hell?" he stopped and stared at it. It was definitely getting smaller. "Ryoko, take a look at this. Up there." Not like it was all that necessary, he pointed to the opening from which they came. However, before Ryoko raised her head to look, the hole disappeared.

          "What?" she asked. Finn stood staring at the sky, trying to understand what he had just witnessed.

          "I just…huh?!" Finn said. "I'm going fruitloopy."

          "Let's keep going," Ryoko began down the street, her gun ready if need be. "It looks like a normal city, just supersized."

          "Yes," Finn noticed the streetlights, which were blinking red, had turned to a solid green. Overhead, the artificial sun beamed down on them as you'd expect it to during a hot July afternoon. 

          "Damage has been repaired. No enemy activity detected. Stay at condition 4, be ready to return to shelters," the overhead voice boomed. A few minutes later, people began to file out of stairways leading up to the streets from underground bunkers. They both took cover behind what looked like a mailbox of some sort and poised their guns, ready to fire. However, as the streets filled with people, nothing happened. They walked right by Finn and Ryoko without even giving them a questioning glance.

          "What the…?" they both said and dropped their guns slightly.

          "You'd think they'd be a little intimidated by two people in enemy uniforms running rampant with automatic weapons, or questioning at the very least," Finn said. "Ow! What was that for?"

          "Ok, I'm not dreaming," Ryoko said as she withdrew her fingers from Finn's back. 

          "How come I don't get to grab you anywhere like that?" Finn muttered under his breath.

          "What was that?"

          "It felt like a crab on my back," he added quickly. "Hmm," Finn scratched his head and watched as people walked by, taking no notice of either of them. They just continued with, what they guessed to be, their usual lives as though nothing had happened or that they even existed. 

          "I feel like I'm in The Sixth Sense or something," Ryoko said. Finn stepped out from behind the box and right into a short-looking man's way, pressing the gun into his chest. This sight, which probably would have reduced most normal people to a puddle of loss-of-bladder control fear seemed to have no effect on the man. He just walked around Finn and continued on his way. "I see dead people." Finn walked into the middle of the street and fired several rounds into the air. "Are you sure it's a good idea to actually ATTRACT people's attention here?!"

          "Very educational," Finn said to himself, observing the people's reaction, or lack there of. 

          "Well? Do you have any idea what's going on here?"

          "Not a clue," Ryoko punched him in the gut. "I deserved that," Finn wheezed and fell to his knees. 

          "We might as well take a look around, seeing as these people don't seem to care all that much about us," she said, and they set off into the giant city. Something sparked Finn's interest. All of the people here seemed to look identical. Their clothes were the same, a pale blue tunic looking thing with baggy white pants and sandals. Ryoko got one of those creepy vibes. Finn looked around, fascinated by what he saw.

          'I wish I had my notebook,' he thought. At first they made small treks away from Jetstream, fearing that the people of this city might try some kind of sneak attack while they were away from the frame. However, after several loops to and from the robot, they began to feel, more or less, comfortable with leaving it while they ventured further into bustling city. Finn was surprised a little when he saw that the roads were not meant for cars or busses, but for bikes. Rows of identical red bicycles with their owners rolled past. After an hour or so of walking into what they guessed to be the heart of the city, they stopped in a small park, where benches and trees surrounded a small fountain of a man holding some kind of urn, from which water poured into a small pond. 

          "It looks like some kind of cult city or something," Ryoko said. By now they had worked up a bit of a sweat in the hot air. Finn knelt by the pond and dipped his hand into the water and splashed the water on his face. The city seemed to freeze. Everyone within eyesight froze where they were and stared at him. There seemed to be some kind of hushed silence. Even the bikes came to a stop; their rider's eyes fixed on Finn, who, at this point, had a rather large question mark floating above his head.

          "What the…?" he asked, looking around at all the people staring at him. He stood up and tightened his grip on his gun. People stood aside as a small group of men in grey uniforms filed into the park. 

          "Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Ryoko demanded, raising her gun. They seemed to ignore her and formed a circle around them. They held some kind of stick-like instrument, which they held at their sides as though ready to strike out any moment. 

          "Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?" Finn said casually, though he kept his finger on the trigger.

          "Are you the desecrators?" one of the men asked.

          "Ah, finally some attention. I was beginning to think this was someone's sick idea of the afterlife or something," Finn said. "Who wants to know?"

          "You bear weapons of evil, you must be desecrators, here to soil our pure land," the man said. 

          "Oh boy," Finn heaved a sigh. "Here we go again."

          "You have tainted our holy fountain's pure water with your evil hands. Submit at once, or we shall exercise our hammer of justice against you!"

          "Quit your babbling and start explaining. Just what are you talking about anyway?" Ryoko demanded, fully prepared to exercise her automatic rifle of justice.

          "You are his accomplice? I see, evil always comes in pairs," the man pointed his stick in Ryoko's direction. 

          "Before we 'submit', as you put it, you have some questions to answer. Number one, who are you and what the fuck is this place? And don't give me that cornpop 'holy land' crap, I want answers," Finn said, raising his rifle and holding it in both hands, aiming it in the man's direction.

          "You cannot hurt me. The voice is with me." 

          "Don't fire unless they make the first move," Finn whispered to Ryoko, who nodded. 

          "They converse secretly among themselves! Evil secrets from one mouth to another! Exercise caution, these two are of foul origin!"

          "This is just what I needed," Finn said sarcastically. "A bunch of nutbars telling me I'm evil. Sorry guys, I've heard it already. Answer my question."

          "So you may use that information for your vile purposes? I shall reveal nothing!" 

Finn's eye twitched. "Look, I'm going to ask you one more time. Where are we? What is this place?" he demanded.

          "They dare ask favours of us, do not heed their calls, do not be fooled by their mask of friendliness," the man said, raising his instrument.

          "There's nothing friendly about us if you're going to keep up with this shit," Finn said, becoming increasingly agitated. "Come on Ryoko, let's get out of here." Finn began to walk away, but the man raised his stick. 

          "Halt, you shall not pass while there is still breath in my lungs," he said.

          Finn raised his gun level with the man's face. 

          "Don't tempt me, pal," he said and, once again, began to try and pass. However, he encountered some kind if invisible barrier. "Ah, a distortion field eh?" Finn's eyes searched the man for something. "Some kind of field generator in that wristband I guess. Clever."

          "Our holy barriers are none of your concern. Drop your instruments of evil, or we shall strike you down where you stand. We will not hesitate to rid the universe of your kind. You dare force your ways upon us, contaminating our world with your filth. Seize them at once!" the men began advancing. Ryoko fired a few rounds into the air.

          "Back off pal," she said, raising her gun level with the man's head. However, they continued their advance. One of the men swung his instrument at Finn, who responded by jumping aside and taking a few shots at the man's leg, avoiding vital areas if at all possible. The bullets ricocheted off the invisible barrier of the distortion field and embedded themselves into the stone below their feet. Finn reached for one of the grenades he was carrying, but fell to the ground, a buzzing pain ripping through his body. "What the…?" one of the men touched Ryoko with his weapon and she, as well, fell to the ground. "Bastards," She managed to say before her vision became black and she slipped into unconsciousness.

**The Chosen Ones**

          "Ow," Finn groaned as he came to. He blinked his eyes, trying to get the spots to disappear and the clear the blurriness that clouded his vision. He tried to rub his sore eyes, but found his hands were bound behind his back. Slowly, he tried to stand up, but fell back into the rear wall of the dark room and slowly slid back down to the floor. Something stirred not far away. He tried to crawl over, but had to settle for reaching out and poking his cellmate with his foot.

          "Augh," the person said. Finn immediately recognized the voice.

          'This moment's crucial, I have to choose my words very carefully,' Finn thought. "Couldn't hurt to take a look around, she says," 'Idiot!' Finn's brain slapped him. "How are you feeling?" he added quickly.

          "Like shit," Ryoko replied.

          "Same. I don't suppose you know where we are?"

          "You should know better than to ask stupid questions by now," she said, shuffling over and resting her back against the wall beside him. Light poured in from a small barred window at the front of the room. There was someone talking outside, but they couldn't make out the words in their current state. They saw similar openings along the front wall, as they were in the doors of every cell, each separated by thick bars. "What did we do to deserve this?"

          "You exist, that is enough reason for them," came a raspy voice from the cell beside them.

          "Who're you?" Ryoko demanded, not in the mood for any shit.

          "A prisoner, like yourselves. You ask why they brought you here, that's a simple enough question: you exist. That's all the reason they need to lock you up," the stranger said.

          "Great, stuck in a black cell for the rest of my life," Ryoko said.

          "Oh, don't worry, you won't stay long. They don't keep you here for more than a few hours," the stranger said. "They'll be picking you up for execution in a little while."

          "I suppose a Swedish massage was too hoping for too much," Finn said, shifting to try and face the stranger, but it was too dark to see much of him. "Who are you anyway?" he asked.

          "I was the pilot an aestivalis, I'm from Earth. Name's Hunts. I got shot down and they hauled me out of the burning wreckage. Bastards should have just let me die," the stranger said, a bout of coughing overtook him for a few moments. 

          "You're an aesti pilot?" Ryoko asked.

          "I was part of the Cosmos' battlegroup. That bastard Akatsuki was supposed to cover my while I pulled out combat, but he took off before me."

          "Don't get me started on _him_," Finn said bitterly. He was about to say something else when Hunts' door slid open. Two men came into the room and grabbed him by the arms. He tried to struggle, but ended up being dragged from the room. "Let him go!" Finn cried and threw himself into the bars in a futile attempt to help his fellow pilot. However, he was shocked when he connected with the bars and was thrown back against the wall, smoking rising from his body. Ryoko managed to stand up and shuffled her way over to the door and looked out the barred opening. Finn joined her a moment later. "Maybe I should add some barbeque sauce next time," he said dryly. They could see as Hunts was led over before a man sitting in a tall chair, which sat on an elevated pillar. The man was dressed in ceremonial robes and looked down at Hunts. He said something, but he was too far away for them to hear. One of the guards pressed something into the exposed part of Hunts' arm. 

          "Has his Magistrate rendered a verdict?" the guard boomed. 

          "Is he the one?" the man in robes asked.

          "Nay, he is not the one," the guard replied, looking at the device he had pricked Hunts with. "Guilty or innocent?"

          "I find him innocent," the man in robes, whom Finn and Ryoko guessed to be the Magistrate. The colour seemed to drain from Hunts' face. He was led up a small set of stairs and chained by his arms to a hook and left dangling there. One of the guards carried a bloodstained instrument, similar to the ones the guards by the fountain had, and stood before Hunts. He then struck him with the instrument, sparks flew everywhere and a strange noise, similar to that of humming powerlines, filled the room, dampening Hunts cries for mercy. When it was all done, Hunts' smoking body hung limp. Finn glared at the scene and shuffled back to the wall. 

          "Not exactly the way I wanted to go," he said grimly. With the limited mobility he had in his bound hands behind his back, he felt around the floor. "Damn, it's clean. Ryoko, can you see if they emptied my pockets?"

          "I take if you have something to get us out of here," she said as she shuffled back. She knelt down beside him and felt around the inside of his pockets with her fingers. "Nothing."

          "Damnit, they even took our communicators," 

          There was a sound at the door of its lock being removed. Finn looked at Ryoko, and they nodded. The door slid open and they both charged at the guard, who smirked when he saw them come at him. He pressed a button in his wristband and they both collided with the invisible barrier of a distortion field and were sent back into the far wall.

          "That could have gone better," Ryoko groaned. She tried to move, but her limbs felt like weights. The guard grabbed Ryoko's ankle in one hand and Finn's in the other and dragged them out into the open space and before the Magistrate. The guard pricked them both with the same device Hunts had been. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded. However, the guards and the Magistrate seemed to totally disregard her. 

          "Has the Magistrate rendered a verdict?" the guard asked. 

          "I object to this bullshit," Finn said, bringing himself to his feet.

          "Silence, or you'll be held in contempt of this court," the Magistrate said.

          "I have nothing but contempt for this court," Finn spat. 

          "Guard," the Magistrate said, and the guard brought his knee swiftly into Finn's stomach, knocking the air from his lungs, and sending him to the floor gasping for breath. "Is either of these the one?" The guard checked the device he held in his hands and looked at it with a confused look on his face. "Well?"

          "Yes, Magistrate. I am reading that they are those we seek,"

          "Which one?"

          "Both of them," the guard asked, still sounding puzzled.

          "Don't I feel so special," Finn said, still recovering his breath. "Just what does that mean anyway?" 

          "How is that possible?" the Magistrate asked, ignoring Finn.

          "I don't know, sir. But that's what I'm registering." 

          The Magistrate descended the steps down onto the floor. By this time, Finn had picked himself up off the floor and stood ready to defend himself if need be, Ryoko did the same.

          "Who are you?" the Magistrate asked. They both glared at him.

          "Saotome," Finn said suspiciously.

          "Subaru," Ryoko said. "What's it to you?"

          "How is it that you are both the chosen one?"

          "How the hell should we know? We don't even know what you're talking about," Finn answered.

          "Where are you from? What faction?"

          "Why should we tell you?" Ryoko demanded. The Magistrate looked at the guard, who forcefully jabbed his elbow into Ryoko's stomach. "Is that all you got?"

           "How about you start by telling us what's going on. If we knew what you were talking about, maybe we could answer your questions," Finn said and the Magistrate looked at him with a scowl.

          "Insolent boy," the Magistrate said, looking at Finn. "For every question you sinners refuse to answer, we shall exercise disciplinary measures," 

"Like what? A tickle-torture?" Finn the guard struck Finn with some kind of cattle prod like object. "Alright, I'll shut up already," he said, his clothes smoking.

"Now, tell me where you came from, I command you!"

          "Yes _sir_," Finn said with an overly abundant dose of sarcasm. The guard shocked him again.

          "Maybe you should just keep your mouth shut," Ryoko sweatdropped. 

          "Cease your conspiring! You, devil-boy, hold your tongue!" the Magistrate shouted. "Now you, girl, answer my question! To what faction do you belong?"

          "Not any, really. But I guess you could say Earth," Ryoko said. 

          "Earth," the Magistrate repeated. "And I take it you two were the ones who sent the call?"

          "Can I ask what 'the call' is?" Finn asked.

          "You don't know, you don't know, you just don't know!"

          "Enlighten us," the guard shocked Finn again. "What was that for?!"

          "I told you to hold your tongue, and when I give an order I expect it to be obeyed."

          'Man, what bug crawled up his ass?' Finn asked.

          "Just what is the call?" Ryoko asked, glancing at the smoke rising from Finn's slowly cooking clothes. "Does it have anything to do with Mars?"

          "Correct, how quickly these vermin catch on. We built the Hand, as a final test your race must pass before its destruction. Call it your last chance for deliverance."

          "And just who are you anyway?" Ryoko asked.

          "We," the Magistrate said. "Are the Successors. Can I see your hands?" he said, addressing both of them.

          "Can you? Have they become invisible?" Finn chuckled. 

          "You're enjoying this way too much," Ryoko said to herself.

          "Guard?" the Magistrate said. Finn prepared for another barbeque, but instead the guard hit a button in his wristband. The metal clasps that bound Finn and Ryoko's hands fell to the floor. "Show me your hands." They immediately assumed a stance of combat readiness. "Show me your hands!" Finn reluctantly showed the back of his closed fist. "And it is true! You both bear the mark! How can this be? How is this possible? What trick are you trying to play on us?"

          "Call it an 'accident'," Ryoko said. "Now how about you explain to us just what this is all about?"

          "They found our parcels! They knew what to do with them!" the Magistrate babbled on.

          "Answer my question!" Ryoko demanded, her voice boomed throughout the massive chamber they were in.

          "You could call it our gift to you. I suppose you know of microtech?"

          "Nanomachines," Finn concluded.

          "Consider it the key to the door of your oblivion," the Magistrate said. Finn and Ryoko just stared at him. "Oh my, you don't know. You just don't know!"

          "I'm starting to get pissed off here, gramps," Finn said irritably. "Start talking sense."

          "Are you the one we spoke to?" the Magistrate asked, disregarding Finn's demands. "The one who blasphemously ridiculed us?"

          "I suppose you could say that," Finn replied.

          "It is just as the Voice spoke of. The evil beings would attempt to tarnish the silver purity of our faith. But I shall hear not your evil! You were the ones who called out to us for your own destruction, be prepared to face such the fate that befits your kind!" Finn took an aggressive step forward. "Violence is always the human's way. It is such a pity, a waste of your species."

          "And what do you consider yourself?" Finn asked. "You look like flesh and blood, just like me. Minus sanity, though," 

          "We were once of your kind, it is true. But through the Voice, we have ascended beyond your level of existence. We are those chosen to cleanse this universe of your sin!"

          "So let me get this straight," Finn said, trying to put these very awkwardly shaped pieces together. "You guys built Fort Mag, and left it on Mars as a test. So if we could ever figure out how to work the damn thing, it would send a signal to you guys, wherever you came from. And while you were waiting, you converted this moon from just a hunk of rock into a kind of suped up flying cannon. So when you guys finally received the signal that we'd activated Fort Mag, you'd take it as a sign that the human race was so bloodstained that you would wipe us off the face of the universe. And you, like just about every zealous faction of nutbar lunatics in history, are justifying your actions in the name of religion, your 'voice' Am I right?" 

          "The demon knows trickery of mind!" the Magistrate cried.

          "Call it the power of observation. Believe me, I've had a lot of practise," Finn replied. "And I'll take your reaction as a 'yes'."

          "You spiders! How dare you poison our minds with such lies!" the Magistrate by now was on the defence, and Finn was on the attack.

          "What right do you have to proclaim yourselves above humanity and blow it off the face of the universe?" Finn continued to ridicule the babbling zealot. "Because the 'voice' told you? I could pull a better excuse out of my ass. At least the Jovians had some comprehendible reason for wanting to destroy the Earth. But you, you guys…gah! I'm choking on my own rage here!"

          "Magistrate!" a man burst into the chamber. "The sinners have broken through the first layer of holy armour. They are advancing towards the City. Our forces can't withstand their evil witchcraft."

          "Call the Hand, we shall use it to dissuade them…" the Magistrate was cut off as a fist connected solidly with his face.

          "Shouldn't take your eyes off a spider," Finn said. "They tend to be venomous." 

**Run For Your Life**

          "Starting to think a little less with your head and more with your fists?" Ryoko asked as they ran down a corridor.

          "I think you're rubbing off on me," Finn replied, they rounded a corner. "Damnit, where is it?"

          "I don't know. I haven't seen anything that looks like a control centre," 

          "At least we found these," Finn said, touching the gun, secured in its holster. They had broken into a room, which they thought might be the control centre but ended up being a storage locker, containing their confiscated items. 

          "Just remember one thing," Ryoko said.

          "What's that?" 

          "You're going to probably have to put your feelings about killing aside for now. I know you don't like it, but we're probably going to have to use some lethal force. Here!" Ryoko kicked another of Zero sliding metal doors down. "Damnit!" The room turned out to be just another storage room. They had already considered boson jumping, but it was a no-go idea since they didn't have a CC, and they were too far under Zero surface to contact the Nadesico. 

          "There they are!" came a voice from behind them. Ryoko fired a few shots in their direction. However, the bullets were deflected by their personal distortion fields. 

"I forgot about that."

They rounded a corner and ducked behind a support beam that ran along the side of the wall. 

"And I thought Fort Mag was big," Finn huffed. They pressed themselves as far as they could behind the beam and waited for their pursuers to pass. Ryoko tossed a grenade down the other corridor, and, like moths to a porchlight, their pursuers followed the direction of the blast. When they could no longer hear footsteps running down the cold metal floors of the corridor, Finn and Ryoko emerged from their hiding place. Ryoko began to run down their chosen passage, but stopped when she noticed Finn standing, looking at the wall.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. 

"Well, well, well. Lookie what I found," Finn grinned and stepped closer to the wall. There was some kind of terminal built into it. Finn took the keypad and punched in some commands. A map appeared on the terminal's screen. "Come on, come on," he flipped through the various options the computer presented him with. 

"Find anything?" Ryoko asked, looking around. "We don't exactly have a lot of time right now."

"I know," Finn hurriedly punched in more commands. "Where are you?" he punched the screen in frustration.

"They're coming back," Ryoko said urgently. Finn quickly looked at the screen, taking in as much of the information as his mind could process. There was one unidentified location on the map. It was big, really big, but didn't have a label like the other rooms. 

"Let's go," they took off in the other direction.

"You know where we're going?" Ryoko asked.

"Not really. Look for room with a blue insignia on it, it should look kind of like the ones on our implants," Finn said. 

They sprinted down this hall, then the next, rounded corners, like two mice running a maze. However, this maze had cats prowling its halls.

"Wait!" Ryoko skidded to a stop, causing Finn, who was behind her, to crash into her. They both fell to the floor in a tangled mess of arms and legs. 

"What is it?" Finn asked, untangling himself.

"Blue insignia, right? Right there," Ryoko said, motioning to the door on their right. It was very big, at least the size of a truck's cargo doors, and heavily armoured.

"This looks promising," Finn said, taking a look at the entry consol attached to the wall beside the massive sliding door. In the darkened hallways it was difficult to see exactly what he was doing. "It's some kind of code."

"I guess knowing it would be too much to ask for," Ryoko said, looking up and down the deserted corridor. "Shit, more peons," she said when she noticed the faint glare of searchlights coming from around the corner behind them. Ryoko instinctively drew her gun.

"Damn, no good," Finn stepped back from the consol and looked around. His eyes searched their surroundings, looking for something. "I guess it's no good running." He added when he saw searchlights coming from the other direction. There were a series of support beams protruding from the wall with small space between each one. "Not exactly spacious, but wide enough." He said and walked down the corridor a little way, looking up at the ceiling, until he found what he was looking for. "Over here." He jumped up and grabbed onto the grate of a ventilation duct. He then pulled himself up, planted his feet on one side of the opening between the support beams and his back against the other. "Come on." He dropped his hand down to assist her. However, she jumped up, grabbed the grate, and pulled herself up. It was a tight squeeze, but they both managed to wedge themselves up there, relatively out of sight high above the floor.

Below them, the two groups of pursuers met.

"Did you find the desecrators?" one of them asked.

"No, they could be using the ancient magic," another one answered. "The scrolls say that those who would awaken the City would possess such magic." Finn watched with great curiosity.

'Very educational," he thought.

"Could they have broken into the archives?" all eyes turned towards the door. The man walked over and looked at the consol. "It's been tampered with." 

"Open the door," the one that seemed to be in charge ordered. Finn and Ryoko's eyes followed the man, but he passed out of their sight, the beam blocked their line of vision. They heard the man punch in a six-digit code and the door slowly slid open. "Check inside." The shuffling of feet followed.

"Nothing, sir," came the reply. 

Finn's foot slid a few millimetres, but he caught himself before he fell. He held his breath and glanced down, hoping no one had heard the minute squeak of his boot against the smooth metal. 

'Whew,' he thought when he saw that no one had taken notice of it. All of a sudden, there was a slight clang against the floor of the corridor. 'What the hell?' There on the floor, was Finn's communicator, which he had slipped into his pocket. 

"What be this?" the commander said, picking it up. "Where did this come from?" he pressed a button on the device's side, and a staticy vidwindow popped up. The commander dropped it and they all stood back. Finn and Ryoko, by this time, had drawn their guns and were laying in wait, just waiting for the group below to see them. 

'Aaaaaaaand….' Finn thought. 'now."

"Up there? The spiders have scaled the walls!"

"Here we go," Finn said and they both jumped down, into the group. He grit his teeth and pulled the trigger again and again. The first few bullets bounced harmlessly off their distortion fields. However, they soon weakened and collapsed, leaving them with only their undrawn sword-like instruments to protect themselves. Finn and Ryoko, in the confusion, managed to take out most of the group. Finn mentally apologized every time he pulled the trigger. A few broke away from the heap of bloody bodies that had piled up around them and stood back from Finn and Ryoko, who were covered in blood, with their instruments in hand. 

"Stop this at once! Or we shall strike you down where you stand!" one of them said. 

"You'd do that even if we did stop," Ryoko shot back, aiming her gun. The men took a step back.

"I guess there's no other way," Finn said under his breath. "Do it." Ryoko pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. 

"Oh shit," she said, pulling the trigger again and again. "I'm out of ammo."

"Perfect," Finn muttered and turned around. The men charged and he opened fire. However, they kept coming. Even when their distortion fields had shattered and blood poured from their wounds, they still crept forward. Finally, two bodies of the three fell lifelessly to the floor. The third and final one stood shakily on his feet and continued to shuffle forward.

"Do it," Ryoko said. Finn took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. He did not open his eyes until the sound of gunshot's echo stopped reverberating through the walls. The shadow cast by his hair made the space around his eyes seem black. "No time to think that over, we've got to get moving."

"Right," Finn said quietly and made his way over to the consol.

"We don't know the code, I couldn't see," Ryoko said. Finn punched in a number, hit the button, and the door slid open. 

"Got to learn to use your ears," he said and they both entered the room. Finn found another consol on the other side and locked the door behind them.

"You think that'll hold them?"

"It's worth a shot, and it's not like we have any better ideas," Finn took the seat in front of a massive monitor. The room was massive. There was row after row is shelving units 20 feet high on rails that slid back and forth. There must have been at least fifty units placed along the floor, along with boxes, papers, and miscellaneous items here and there.

"They called this place the 'archives', I guess that's what they are,"

"Maybe we can use them to find some answers," Finn said as he got up and began to search through one of the shelving units.

"Where should we begin?"

"Anything prior to the War for Lunar Autonomy. These people must have come from Earth before the early Jovians were banished." Finn pulled out a stack of old DVDs and began to sift through them. Most of them were old movies, anime, TV shows, things you'd expect to find in an antique store. 

"I think I found something," Ryoko said, a few units over. " 'Data tracks 2080: Beginning'."

"Let's have a look," Finn said, and they popped the disk into the ancient DVD player built into the computer. The screen fizzled for a few moments, but then became clear.

"In the year 2080, United Earth Forces banished us from the Earth and the Moon, for fear that we would some day rise up and overthrow them, shedding light as to the true nature of the universe. Prior to the Banishment, the UF had fiercely oppressed our people, stating that our laws and beliefs were 'inhumane' and 'immoral'. As a result, we were given two choices. The first was to stay on Earth and live in concentration camps, which was an outrageously unreasonable proposal. The second was to leave Earth within one year, or be imprisoned, with our leaders executed. The UF expected us to agree to the first option. However, we took them up on their second offer and used funds donated to our organisation by followers to buy space barges, big enough to transport the majority of our people away from Earth. Mars was our intended destination," was what the disk said before it began skipping and the information came out garbled. 

"Explains a lot. But still doesn't tell us how they came up with the boson jumping technology." 

"You're really against this whole alien theory, aren't you?" Ryoko said.

"Sorry, I don't buy UFOs," Finn replied.

The next few disks they tried were all of old movies, news reports, and anime. Strangely enough, they were all found on a shelf labelled "Heathen Records". However, they finally came across something else that seemed promising. Ryoko put the disk in and closed the player. The first few minutes of the disk were garbled beyond recognition.

"We had settled on Mars and had rebuilt our communities and were living quite contently for several years," the disk played when they finally got it working. "However, a discovery changed the course of the Successor people forever. We discovered a massive supercomputer buried at the planet's south pole. This was assumed to be alien technology when it was first discovered."

"Looks like you're theory's been blown out of the water," Ryoko said.

"However," the disk continued. "We later discovered that a transport ship we thought we had lost during the initial entry into Mars' atmosphere had apparently survived, with its passengers intact. These people came across a remarkable discovery. Due to the impact zone where their ship crashed, much of the overlaying snow had been evaporated. This exposed a layer of an unusual material, which they called neomite. It possessed remarkable qualities and, having the most advanced scientists and engineers with them, was quickly developed into a three forms. The first one discovered was a form of propulsion, using a transition vacuum to propel craft remarkably effectively and efficiently. The second was a highly concentrated destructive wave of gravitron waves, which could double as a protective field. The third was the most remarkable. It was a form of instant transportation that used synchronized itself with the radiant energies of particles elsewhere in the universe. This synchronization could then be used as a form of teleportation. Due to the fact that energies radiate different energy signatures at different times, the form of teleportation was not limited to the confines of time. However, the crashed ship had contained the most fanatic extremists of our faith, and they used this new technology to dominate and 'cleanse' our society of non-believers. Now, only a small band of our kind, the moderate believers, survive. We leave this record to anyone that may find it, as proof of our existence; an existence the extremists have sworn to wipe of the face of universe. We managed to damage their main manufacturing plant. However, before we could fully destroy it, it teleported to unknown destination."

"The artefact." Finn concluded, and they tried more disks.

"Date: 2095. We have successfully purged Mars of the insufferable existence of the non-believers. However, a more dangerous threat now looms over us. Using our power, we have read into the Earth-dogs communications had have discovered that a group of lunar dissidents is en route. I suggested destroying them the moment they arrived, to prevent any contamination. However, the Elder has a different plan. We shall bury the City at the South Pole where we originally found the magical substance, and leave it as a test. We will move beyond the range of their probes to the moons of Saturn, and begin construction on the Purge. When the human race has discovered how to use the power we left behind, it will serve as our beacon. The City, being a weapon, will tell us that the human race has exhausted all possible means of peaceful existence within itself, and it will be our light to follow, to cleanse the universe of those foul beings! Unfortunately, the transport vessel that moderates all transport via our power is too large to take with us on your pilgrimage to Saturn, and will be left behind."

"Explains a lot," Finn said. However, before he could say anything else, there was noise coming from outside. 

"They're trying to get in," Ryoko said, her ear pressed against the door.

"Not for long," Finn drew his gun and fired into the consol, or, at least, would have, had there been any bullets left in his gun. "Give me a break," he muttered. Ryoko smashed her foot into the device, destroying a good chunk of it. The door uttered a strange click and the voices from the other side turned to shouts.

"Go with what works," she said. Finn began rooting through more shelves. "What are you looking for?" However, before he could utter a reply, red marks appeared in the heavily armoured door.

"Come on, where are you?" Finn said, tearing through boxes and shoving things off the shelves.

"Whatever you're looking for, better hurry up," Ryoko said as she pushed heavy file cabinets against the slowly melting door. "They're coming through." Finn tossed something her way. It was an old handgun, well over a hundred years old. There was ammunition in the clip, and it appeared to be in working condition.

"Pray that thing still works," he said as he continued sifting through the archives' contents. Ryoko pushed over another file cabinet and took cover behind it. "Gah damn! I can't find it." He grabbed another old firearm off the dusty shelves and joined Ryoko. 

"What were you looking for anyway?" she asked. However, before Finn could answer, they heard the file cabinets Ryoko had barricaded the door with falling over. 

"We're in!" cried one of the Successor officers. There was a slight clinking noise at his feet and he noticed a small round object roll between his legs and into the cluster of men that had gathered around the entrance. However, before he could examine the object any further, it exploded, sending some of the men flying into the air.

"Here we go," Finn took a deep breath and opened fire. However, this time, the Successors returned fire. It looked like some kind of handheld gravity blast gun; the blasts knocked the shelving units over, sending heaps of items crashing to the floor. Finn hurled another grenade into the cluster of men in front of them. However, for every man they shot down, three more came and took his place.

"Damn, I'm out," Ryoko said, her ammunition depleted. 

"Same," Finn said and he ducked behind the overturned file cabinet. He unclipped his last grenade from his belt. "Last one. Here goes." He began to hurl the explosive at their enemies, however, a sudden blast against the file cabinet caused him to drop it and sent it rolling away behind them, into the stack of toppled shelving units. "Aww man, give me a break!" he himself braced himself over Ryoko as grenade detonated. Since they didn't have anything to protect them, the force of the exploding blast hit them unhindered, and their surroundings, causing even more shelves to collapse, partially burying them under a heap of, for lack of a better term, stuff. Finn's head emerged from the rubble and something connected solidly with his head and he lay there swirly eyed for a few moments. 

"You can get off me now," he heard a voice come from below the rubble.

"What happened?" came the coughing voice from the other side of the veil of smoke that filled the room. Finn picked up the object that had struck him.

"Neomite?" he asked himself. Ryoko shoved him aside and climbed up. He grabbed her hand. "It's a long shot, but think of Jetstream's cockpit."

"But we don't have a CC," Ryoko said.

"Can you see anything?" came a voice.

"Wait until it clears!" came another.

"We don't have a lot of time, just trust me," Finn held the chunk of neomite with one hand and Ryoko's hand in the other. 

"Right," they closed their eyes and concentrated. They felt the familiar tingle as their nanomachines got to work. However, when they opened their eyes, they were still where they started. "You were saying?"

"Crap," Finn said, he was about to throw the worthless stone away, but decided Inez might want to examine it, so he stuffed it into his pocket. "Ok, time for plan B."

"Do I even want to know?" Ryoko asked. 

"Come on," Finn jumped over the battered file cabinet, dragging Ryoko with him.

"Are you nuts?" Ryoko asked.

"Trust me," he said.

"I hear something," one of the soldiers said as Finn burst from the smoke and ploughed into them. Fortunately their distortion fields weren't online when he did so, which made it easy for him to take three of them down before they knew what was going on. Ryoko, by this time, had caught onto the general idea of Finn's 'idea' and had knocked a few soldiers to the floor. Quickly, they grabbed their enemies' weapons and took off down the corridor, leaving the soldiers dazed and confused.

Finn and Ryoko rounded a corner and kept on running. 

"Shit," Finn cursed when they reached a set of locked doors. They backed up and tested out their new toys. However, the doors simply reflected their shots. "Damnit, they just had to go to these stupid futuristic weapons." By now their pursuers were catching up, the corridor filled with their gravity blasts, which narrowly missed them. One grazed Finn's shoulder and he fell to one knee. His wound seared with a blistering hot pain, it felt as though someone were poking him with a red-hot piece of iron. 

"You alright?" Ryoko asked, returning fire.

"It's just a flesh wound,' Finn's mouth grunted, meanwhile his mind screamed at him. He grit his teeth and forced himself to concentrate on returning fire. However, most of their shots were deflected off their enemies' distortion fields.

"Damn, those things don't work well against bullets, but they're pretty effective against whatever these things are," Ryoko said, diving to the floor as another barrage skimmed overhead. Their enemy stopped and continued firing. "I guess they're going for it this time."

"Don't let go without a fight," Finn said. 

"We're out numbered, out gunned, and trapped. What do you want me to do? Start thinking good thoughts?"

"Couldn't hurt. Just click your heels and say 'there's no place like home'." Finn smirked, his face contorted by pain and the dry amusement of the situation. The Successor soldiers closed in.

"The Magistrate wanted them alive," one of them said.

"He only wanted to meet them, he said to execute them right after," another one said. They seemed to think it over for a moment, before they silently decided that Finn and Ryoko were too dangerous to keep alive. "Fare thee well, sinners." And they pulled the trigger.

**Escape From Zero**

          "What the?" Finn asked when he opened his eyes, the light was dim and the space was tight. He felt around, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. "Ryoko?" he said upon seeing Ryoko across from him. Slowly but surely, Finn began to piece this together. "In Jetstream?"

          "Is this someone's twisted idea of a joke?" Ryoko asked. She looked at herself and found her conduction gloves on and that she was strapped in, ready for flight. She noticed bloodstains on her pilots' suit. "I guess it wasn't a dream. But how the hell did we get here?" Finn noticed a dim light coming from somewhere in the cockpit. He searched for it, and finally found the source. From his pocket, he produced the small chunk of neomite he had grabbed in the archives. They both looked at each other.

          "Don't ask me," Finn said when he noticed Ryoko looking at him.

          "Who cares, let's just get out of here," she said and connected herself to the IFS. Finn did the same and they brought Jetstream online. For some reason, it was still where they had left it. The streets were bustling with people, but they didn't really care at this point. They piloted Jetstream out into the street and, surprise surprise, no one seemed to take any notice of them.

          'You're not going to give them a chance to evacuate?' Ryoko asked when she felt Finn bringing the machineguns online.

          'Just a small puncture,' Finn said, and they blasted up towards the strange ceiling above the city. They blew a small hole into the ceiling and they felt the effects immediately. Air was pulled out of the pressurized city and shot out into the cold vacuum of space. Even in Jetstream they had trouble staying away from the basketball sized hole. 'What the?'

          'They're just standing there,' they saw enemy robot units appear from their launch pads under the sliding sections of the street, they launched and immediately opened fire.

          'Are they nuts? They haven't even evacuated the civilians yet!' they banked to the left and the shots made the hole open even further. They transformed to fighter mode and dove towards the ground, only to pull up, skimming the streets, and open fire at the enemy. 'Try and keep the shots on an upward angle.' However, the slingshots simply evaded their shots. Jetstream transformed to robot mode and they projected their distortion field at a close range, neutralizing the enemy's field. Quickly, they gouged a hole out of the chest and pulled out the slingshot's insides. The robot hung limp in the air for a moment before it lost power and plunged into the city streets. It's partner drew its sword-like instrument and took a slash at Jetstream. They swung Jetstream around, caught the blade before it made contact with their hull, and proceeded to snap the end off. Using this end, they carved a long line down the centre of the robot and ripped it to shreds with their machine guns.

          'Bring on the next!' Ryoko cried and they swung around, looking for the next opponent. Off in the distance, six more were flying towards them, closing fast, with another squadron following not far behind. When Ryoko brought the twin cannons she felt a tug, like someone was holding her back. 

          'We can't fire over a city like that,' Finn informed her. The slingshots were now within firing range and had opened fire. They detached Jetstream's shield and held it in front of them. 'We can't let civilians get involved.'

          'Look Saotome, I know how you feel about civs, but I think survival is a little more important right now! We can't just dodge; they're reinforcing their lines too quickly. It's either them or us,' Ryoko said. She continued to feel Finn's hesitation. However, before she could say any more, Jetstream shuddered violently and they began to loose altitude. 'Shit, we've been hit.' They caught themselves just before they hit the city streets, and landed rather roughly, gouging deep tracks into the pavement. The slingshots landed and proceeded to take cover behind buildings before they opened fire. Below them, the civilians continued to go about their daily business, seeming totally unaware of the battle taking place in front of them. 'They're not even looking at us! I know you hate killing, but take a look around you!' 

          Finn looked around at the people, drones, who just walked from this place to that place. The slingshots fire caused a building to collapse and fall across a busy street. Finn's blood began to boil.

          'Damnit, damnit, damnit!' he cursed. 'Let's just get this over with,' they drew Jetstream's sword and charged forward towards a group of enemy units there had taken cover. Their blasts bounced off Jetstream's shield. When they were close enough, Finn and Ryoko deployed the distortion field again, the air shimmered as the conflicting fields cancelled each other out. The first slingshot was divided cleanly down the middle, and the next was cut into three pieces, which fell into the streets. During this brief distraction, several slingshots were coming up the street, firing away. This caught Finn and Ryoko off guard and they suffered several direct hits in the back before they grabbed one of the disabled, but still whole, slingshots and used it as a shield. The attacking robots were too far out of range for their distortion countermeasure, so they had to settle for the old fashioned way. The machineguns heated up as hundreds of bullets were projected from them in a matter of seconds. However, due to this time-consuming process, two more had landed behind them and had launched a massive barrage of missiles, which hit Jetstream's hull unhindered, causing it to fell to the ground and blowing one of the twin cannons off its anchors, sending it twisted and broken onto the ground. Finn and Ryoko hauled Jetstream up off the ground and opened fire at the base of a tall skyscraper. The concrete was quickly eaten away by the bullets that gnawed its base, causing the building to collapse onto three slingshots standing in front of them. 'Buried and helpless, life is good.'  They then turned around and sprang forward onto the robots that had launched the missile barrage. Their distortion fields were quickly torn away and Jetstream rammed its fist down into the head of one of robots and ripping it off. They then grabbed the broken robot by the arm and flung it into the other. Transforming to fighter mode, they flew high into the sky, before pulling into a dive and opening fire at the few remaining enemy units. Two slingshots jumped out from behind two buildings opposite from one another and grabbed onto Jetstream's wings, dragging them down crashing into the streets.

          'And you wanted to fight defensively,' Ryoko said. 'There's a saying where I come from. Bastards that dare piss me off shall be blown up!'

'They think we're demons? Let's give them some hell!' Finn wasn't holding back now. His anger had been provoked, and the hardened warrior side of him cast its shadow over his compassion. Jetstream transformed and they flipped it sideways, forcing one slingshot below them, taking the brunt of the force that was tearing at them as they skidded along the pavement. When that one had been eaten away by the friction caused by the crash, they ploughed the other one into a nearby building. The three remaining slingshots regrouped at the end of the street. Two of them held their guns, ready to fire. However, before they could do so, the third one put its hand up and pointed its twisted instrument in Jetstream's direction. 'A duel?'

'Looks like it,' Ryoko looked around, trying to pick out any slingshots that may be lurking in ambush. However, the radar was clear and nothing registered on the heat scan. They drew Jetstream's sword from the left wing and held it out at the robot's arm's length. The opposing robot nodded, grabbed its weapon with both hands and ran forward. Jetstream did the same, its metal feet pounding depressions into the pavement and sending bits and pieces of it into the air. When the two blades met, sparks flew, and both robots came to an abrupt halt. Jetstream's blade became lodged in where the opponent's blade split off into two points, and they were slowly being pushed back. 

Realizing that their current strategy of trying to simply overpower their enemy wasn't working, Finn and Ryoko opted for a different plan of action. They let go of the sword and quickly shifted to the right, the enemy's blade nicked the left side of Jetstream's torso armour and sank into the ground. While the slingshot tried to pull its weapon out of the ground, Finn and Ryoko slammed their fists into its chestplate and opened fire. The bullets ate away at the armour and reduced the robot to two torn halves. It then exploded in a giant fireball, flames spilled onto the street and blocked the two other slingshots' view. They saw a figure emerge from the inferno. Jetstream sprang forward, elbowed the robot on the left in the face, crushing its visual sensors, and, using the potential energy within their already positioned fist, proceeded to slam their fist into the one on the right, sending it crashing to the ground. Finn and Ryoko triumphantly surveyed the battlefield. The civilians still continued their usual activity, even though several blocks had been levelled, over a dozen skyscrapers had been reduced to rubble, and there were craters everywhere from missiles that had never reached their targets. However, before they could take off, a missile came out of nowhere and struck the middle of Jetstream's already damaged back. They fell to the ground and noticed that something felt different. Looking around, they saw something curious. All the people were perfectly still, as though they had been frozen instantaneously. But before they could stop and think about it, another slingshot stood over them, holding its gun to their head. By this time Jetstream was heavily damaged with systems on the verge of failure. There was a brief moment where both Finn and Ryoko prepared for what was to come. However, this lasted only a split second before they quickly grabbed the slingshot's gun barrel and crushed it with one hand. The slingshot took a few steps back as they hauled Jetstream up off the street and onto its feet. They slowly walked towards the enemy robot, which seemed to be staring at them in disbelief. Jetstream continued to come forward, its eye visual receptors glowing a fierce red. 

They came faceplate-to-faceplate with their enemy and were about to smash a hole clean through its torso, when Finn's other side stopped him. His mind was at war with itself. One part of him wanted to destroy this enemy, tear it apart until it was nothing but a pile of scrap on the ground. He wanted someone to pay for all the injustice, all the destruction! He wanted to take it all out on this single enemy. But the other side held him back.

'What are you doing?' Ryoko asked. 

The enemy seemed to recover its senses during this brief moment of hesitation and drew its blade, raising it high above him, preparing to slash down at them. When it did bring the weapon down, Finn and Ryoko caught it in midair. They snapped the blade in two and used the piece they had broken off to slash a diagonal line across the robot. It stood there, before they pushed it over with Jetstream's finger. 

Wasting no time, for fear of being caught off guard, they planted their feet firmly into the ground and gathered their energies. Aiming their remaining shoulder cannon to the sky, they began to charge it up. They both felt the concentration of energy surge into the single barrel. When they could both no longer tolerate the stress of such a massive concentration of energy that had build up on their shoulder, they unleashed the massive wave upon the ceiling. The wave struck the ceiling, and they saw it travel upward to the surface. A massive hole the size of the Nadesico was blown into the roof and small pieces fell from above. Quickly, they transformed Jetstream to fighter mode and thrust up towards the opening. However, they noticed it was getting progressively smaller as they approached. There was an unusual force pulling them closer and closer. It even sucked up things off the city streets, such as bikes, garbage cans, and, much to Finn's nauseating surprise, people, which collided with Jetstream's hull, sending small clanging noises reverberating through the frame. Finn felt Ryoko's reaction, which was very similar to his. The people were literally frozen, having been exposed to the cold vacuum of space, and were being sucked out and ejected back into space. They both forced their minds off the subject and concentrated on cranking the thrust up as high as it would go. 

"I am detecting a massive energy fluctuation from point 022502," reported Ruri as a massive wave of blue energy exploded from Zero's surface.

"Enemy attack?" asked Yurika.

"Negative, the blast came from inside, some kind of internal explosion."

"What the hell is going on?!" cried Akito as he was sent flying high above Zero's surface by the blast wave. "Where'd that come from?"

"I am detecting an unidentified object traveling at high velocity emerging from the blast zone," Ruri said.

"More enemy units?" Akito asked.

"Idiots," Ruri said as Jetstream came flying out of the opening.

"What's the sitch?" Finn and Ryoko asked as they emerged onto the battlefield. From what they could see, the battle was progressing much the same as it did when they had first fallen through and into the city. The Cosmos and Skylinx's battlegroups had joined the Nadesico and were attacking the areas around Zero's massive main cannon.

"Ryoko, Saotome, pull back. We're issuing an order to retreat," Yurika said. "We need to regroup and rearm."

"Roger that, Captain," they replied, too tired to argue. They made a beeline for the Nadesico, with Akito and his squad not far behind. 

"Minato, prepare to pull back. Megumi, radio the other ships and tell them where the rendezvous point is. Ruri, stand by on PT cannon," Yurika ordered. 

"I'm reading high concentrations of bose particles, Captain," reported Ruri.

"Where from?"

"Directly behind us at approximately 653km to stern. Signature matches our records. Tracing now." 

Yurika watched the stern vidwindow and saw something beginning to materialize out of the cluster of glowing bose particles. The first part to emerge from the gap in the fabric of space looked to be about the size of a chulip. However, it continued to get bigger and bigger. It was painfully clear what was going on.

"Don't bother, Ruri," Yurika said. Behind them, Fortress Magnum materialized, transformed in robot mode and ready for battle.

**It Gets Worse**

          "Seiya, can you patch her up?" Finn asked as he hopped down from the damaged Jetstream.

          "You're looking well, for a dead man," Seiya said and began to examine the damage along Jetstream's side.

          "What do you mean?" Ryoko asked, jumping down and landing beside Finn.

          "You were gone for nearly four hours," Inez explained, appearing out of nowhere. "You have been gone for over 237 minutes, or roughly four hours. During which time, our battle plans have collapsed and all our forces have gathered along these coordinates. Just out of range of their main gun," she motioned to a minimap of Zero in a vidwindow. "The Captain has issued a retreat, so we may regroup and rearm." At this time in the explanation, the aestivalis were beginning to file into the hangar. "Approximately 46% of our attack force has been destroyed, disabled, or missing, presumed dead."

          "I take it that it would be too much to ask for Akatsuki to be among them?" Finn muttered.

          "Negative, he is aboard the Cosmos right now, rearming his aestivalis," Inez answered. "However, we have caused severe damage to Zero's main gun, which is presumed to be partially disabled by now. We are leaving some personnel on Zero so the enemy cannot reinforce their lines."

          "All combat crew, remain at your stations. Black alert, repeat, black alert. Standby for further orders," Megumi said, relaying the Captain's orders.

          "Some break," Ryoko said.

          "Where've you two been?" Kumi demanded, ripping her helmet off.

          "Call it a…scouting mission," Finn said.

          "Scouting?" she smirked and looked at Finn, then at Ryoko, who both looked a little dishevelled. "Find any new positions?"

          "Why you little bi…" 

          "Pilot Subaru and Lt. Saotome, please report to the bridge immediately," Megumi interrupted Ryoko. 

          "I doubt this could get any worse, so what does the Captain need us for anyway?" Finn asked rhetorically. A few minutes later they arrived at the bridge. "Alright, what's the matter now?" his eyes bulged slightly when he saw the rear monitor. "I had to ask."

          "Saotome," Yurika said. Finn looked at her. "Help."

          "Fort Mag is still in dimensional transition," Ruri said. "Projections indicate it will be unable to fire for a while longer,"

          "Seiya," asked Finn, opening a vidwindow. "You know how I wanted Jetstream repaired?"

          "Give me two hours," Seiya replied, lifting his welding mask.

          "You've got ten minutes. And make sure the main gun is operational." Finn said and closed the window.

          "Have you got any ideas?" Yurika asked. "Maybe you can control it like you did last time?"

          "I doubt it. I'm not even sure how I ended up stuck in that thing the last time," Finn replied. 

          "Could you give it a try?"

          "Suicide's not exactly in my job description."

          "Do we even know it's hostile?" asked Jun.

          "Afraid so," everyone looked at Finn. "Believe me." 

          "I've got an idea," Akatsuki said, opening a vidwindow onto the bridge from the Cosmos. Finn instinctively reached for his gun. It was a good thing it was out of ammo, or else there might have been a few dents where Akatsuki's window had opened. "Saotome, you have one anti-field torpedo left. Why not use it to knock out the Fortress' distortion field?  We could send a team inside to destroy its operational control systems,"

          "Is Tenkawa's team ready?" asked Finn.

          "We need Akito and his squad back on Zero as soon as they're rearmed," Yurika said. "You'll have to go with someone else."

          "Sakura, any of Skylinx' aestivalis ready?" Finn asked.

          "Most of them have been destroyed," Sakura said grimly.

          "They were only trainee pilots," Akatsuki added. "My team's ready to go."

          "Then it's settled. Saotome, you're going with Akatsuki's team," Yurika said. Finn was about to protest, but she stopped him. "And I don't want your grudge getting in the way. Is that clear?"

          "What's that grinding noise?" Jun asked. Everyone glanced in Finn's direction. You could almost see the enamel flying.

          "I am detecting initial systems activity coming from Zero," Ruri said.

          "Well?" Yurika crossed her arms. "Do I make myself clear?"

          "Yeah," he sighed in defeat. "But I don't have to like it,"

          "Good. Akatsuki, when can you launch?"

          "Give me five minutes," he answered. "Meet us at rendezvous point zeta."

          "You'd better hurry up, Saotome," Yurika said. "You've got five minutes."

          "I just love these 'no-pressure' scenarios," Finn remarked as he and Ryoko ran off the bridge. "Gah, I can't believe I actually have to work with that snake. Simply being on the same side is hard enough, now I actually have to put up with the bastard personally."

          "I'm surprised you even agreed to it," Ryoko said.

          "Only because I have to," Finn added quickly. When they reached the hangar, there were maintenance crewmembers stuck to every exposed piece of Jetstream's hull.

          "I'm going to ask you just one question, Saotome," Seiya said. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO TO THESE THINGS?!"

          "It's just…well used. That's all," Finn replied.

          "Crashing through buildings probably doesn't help though," Ryoko added quietly. 

          "Is she ready?" 

          "We've managed to get the key systems operating at about 75%, and the major structural damage has been repaired, but any interior problems will still be there. We've only been able to get the worst of it patched up," Seiya replied.

          "What about the main gun?"

          "Hey Toji!" Seiya shouted, a man standing on Jetstorm's back looked their way. "Is the main gun working?" the man named Toji gave a thumbs-up. "It's as ready as it's ever going to be."

          "Alright, thanks," Finn, followed by Ryoko, climbed up the ladder and popped the cockpit hatch open. They both put their helmets on and plugged themselves into the IFS. The maintenance crew scrambled off the frame as it began to roll towards the catapult, and was soon thrown back into space. They met up with Akatsuki's aestivalis team and began to fly towards the massive construct that was Fortress Magnum. 

          "We're almost in range, prepare to fire," one of Akatsuki's flunkies said.

          "I'm reading a massive energy build up from Fort Mag. Signature matches that of the…" there was a blinding flash of light as Ruri's window went grainy.

          "What's going on?" Finn and Ryoko asked. "Ruri? Where are you? Come in!"

          "Never mind them, we've got a mission to complete," Akatsuki said. "We're in range, fire the torpedo," Finn looked back and saw the Nadesico still sitting in one piece, and assumed it was some kind of system failure on Jetstream's part.

          "Roger that, _commander_ Akatsuki," they said, targeting the projected weakest point in Fort Mag's distortion field. The torpedo fired and left a small streak of gasses as it shot forward and collided with Fort Mag's field. One of Akatsuki's men fired a missile, which struck the fortress' hull. It looked like a firefly in front of an elephant. They continued flying forward. 

          'So far so good,' Finn thought. Ryoko could feel his hatred for Akatsuki like a burn, some bubbling pool of acid in his mind. 

          'Not that I blame him,' she said to herself.

          "Enemy units incoming," one of Akatsuki's men said.

          "Where from? Our scanners are shot," Finn and Ryoko said.

          "They're coming out of the fortress. Must be some kind of drone programme or something."

          "Prepare for close-range combat," Akatsuki ordered. Finn and Ryoko cranked up the thrusters and blew past him. "Watch where you're going!"

          "We'll keep that in mind," they muttered and fired a missile into the centre of the group of robots that were flying towards them. They looked a lot like the slingshots, only heavier and bulky. They concluded that they were some kind of slingshot predecessor. "This things are over a hundred years old, they belong in a museum, not on the battlefield." The missile exploded, sending the enemy units spiralling off into space in peaces.

          "There's more where that came from," one of Akatsuki's men said. More of the enemy robots were flooding out of small hangar bays along Fort Mag's sides. This time they opened fire. A massive barrage of gravity blasts flew straight towards them. Jetstream banked right, away from the barrage, but two of Akatsuki's men weren't so lucky. They took the full brunt of the blasts, causing their distortion fields to fail. Jetstream's remaining booster was punched to full and blitzed the enemy with a massive onslaught of good old-fashioned bullets, ripping over a dozen to shreds. They transformed Jetstream to robot mode and ploughed into a group of them. The robots were is such a bad state of disrepair that they crumbled under the impact of Jetstream's fists. 

          'They don't even have distortion fields,' Ryoko thought as they smashed their way through another group. 

          'Yeah, but they just keep coming,' Finn added as they drew Jetstream's sword and sliced two in half.  

          Akatsuki and his team were ploughing their way forward. However, every one enemy unit they shot down, even more came to pick up the slack.

          "This isn't getting us anywhere," Jetstream turned around and thrust away from the battle. They came to haul outside the enemy's firing range.

          "You bastard, what the hell are you doing?" Akatsuki demanded. They didn't reply. Instead, they armed both machine guns and burst forward, sending a torrent of bullets raining down at Fort Mag, whose surface was crawling with enemy units. Huge sections were cleared as the robots were shredded. They cleared one section in the fortress' upper chest area.

          "Don't just float there, get moving!" they said to the gawking members of Akatsuki's team. By this time, they had now landed and had magnetically grounded Jetstream's feet to the city. Walking forward, they shot down any enemy units that came within firing range.

          Akatsuki's team landed and formed a defensive circle.

          "Open it up," Akatsuki said as he stepped forward. Finn and Ryoko ceased fire and withdrew their sword. Holding it in both hands, they thrust the blade deep into the armoured hull. Just then, a massive explosion sent Jetstream flying into the air. Akatsuki grabbed their hand and pulled them back down.

          "We don't need your help," they snapped as another explosion shook Fort Mag, causing them all to loose their balance.

          "What's going on here?" one of them asked. They saw a bright light grow from further down Fort Mag.

          'Oh no,' Finn though. 'Oh no. Aww shit!'

          "Nadesico, come in! Nadesico! Ruri? Do you read us? Answer us damnit!" they shouted, only to have a grainy window stare blankly back at them. "Damnit, come on comlink," they mentally kicked the computer. "Work!"

          "What's going on here?" Akatsuki asked.

          "Contact the Nadesico, tell them to get out of there. NOW!" they ordered. 

          "Wh…"

          "Just do it!" 

          A massive burst of light blinded them all. It seemed to come from everywhere. It was several minutes before the spots cleared from their eyes.

          "What happened?" Akatsuki asked. Finn and Ryoko didn't answer. They took a few steps towards the blast that had just erupted from Fort Mag's guns. A floating mass of twisted steel remained where the Nadesico had once been.

**The Code of Heroes**

          Jetstream fell to its knees and braced its arms against the ground. Finn and Ryoko's eyes were both wide with the horror and brimming with tears of fury and rage.

          "Saotome, Ryoko, snap out of it," came Akatsuki's voice. Around them, the enemy was gaining ground. 

          "Gone…" they said. "Gone." 

          A gravity blast exploded a few meters away. Jetstream formed a tight fist and stood up.

          "They're gone," they said quietly. "And it's all because of you," they stared at Zero. On its surface they could see the tiny flickers of light as explosions erupted. They revved up the engines and took off. 

          "Wait!" Akatsuki grabbed onto Jetstream's ankle just before they flew out of reach and held them back. 

          "Let us go!" they screamed, kicking at Akatsuki's aesti's head. More of Akatsuki's team tackled Jetstream and restrained it. "Akatsuki, let us go right fucking now! We'll kill them! We'll kill the whole fucking lot of them! We swear we will!"

          "Damnit, hold onto them!" Akatsuki ordered.

          "We're trying, sir!" came the grunted reply. 

          "We'll kill them!" Finn and Ryoko screamed. "All of them! They'll pay this! Every last fucking one of them! Let us go!"

          Even though Ryoko felt the same way Finn did, what she felt from him scared her. She had never felt anything so unforgiving, so full of rage and hate and sorrow. She felt it possess every fibre of his being and grow stronger and stronger, more hateful, the need for revenge filling him, blinding him with his own rage.

          "Killing them isn't going to bring the Nadesico back!" Akatsuki shouted. "You can't let them die in vain. If you go after Zero you'll be destroyed, I can guarantee it!"

           "Akatsuki, let us go," Jetstream became still. "We mean it. There's not a whole lot keeping us from killing you right here, don't push us."

          "If you go off, you'll be destroyed. It's as simple as that. Are you just going to throw your lives away and let Zero win? You two are the only ones who know enough about Fort Mag's interior to carry out this operation."

          "Don't give me that shit. You probably know every nut and bolt of this thing. You seem to have your little moles everywhere"

          "You're not going to go against your captain's last orders, are you?" Finn and Ryoko fell silent. "That was her last request, are you going to betray her dying wish?"

          "Damn you, Akatsuk. You're a bastard, you know that?" Akatsuki's team relaxed their grip and they shrugged them off. "Fine. Let's do this. Just remember one thing, you pull anything, _anything_, I'm not holding back." They grabbed the sword, which was sill embedded in Fort Mag's hull, and began carving the hole. Akatsuki's men formed a defensive circle around them and kept the attacking enemy units at bay. When the circle was complete, they began pounding their feet against it, trying to break through. "Give us this," they grabbed Akatsuki's railgun and grabbed one of the rail-charges. They then stuffed it into the opening they had carved and gave it a strong kick. The force of the shock detonated the charge and blew it open. Akatsuki grabbed his railgun back and they both descended into the fortress' interior. 

          "Incredible," Akatsuki said as he looked around the massive corridor they had broken into.

          "Don't fall in love with it, we're not staying that long," they said and Jetstream took point. "This way." 

          They followed a system of twists and turns, moving deeper and deeper into the bowels of the massive construct. The interior was well lit, as though it were expecting someone. Finn and Ryoko shrugged that feeling off and pressed onward. They began to find themselves in familiar territory and spotted some of the damage they caused the first time they had ventured into these hallowed halls. 

          "We're here," they said and landed at the base of a massive steel door. "When we ran an sweep of the fortress' interior, we found this part to be the main hub of all the internal systems." Akatsuki landed and aimed his railgun at the door blocking their path.

          "Don't bother," Finn and Ryoko said, putting Jetstream's hand up. "It's about three meters thick, that thing wouldn't even make a dent."

          "How do we get through then?" Akatsuki asked.

          "Through there," they pointed to a massive steel grate covering a giant ventilation shaft that hung from the ceiling. They thrust up and jabbed the sword between the holes of the grate and began to pry it off. Akatsuki watched with great interest. "Tell us something, how did you arrange for Mika to get aboard the Nadesico anyway? We had you locked up the whole time,"

          "What are you talking about?" Akatsuki asked. They pulled the sword out of the grate and rested the tip on Akatsuki's aesti head.

          "We're in a bad mood, so don't tempt me. You know damn well what I'm talking about," they turned back to the grate.

          'Should we use the cannon?' Ryoko asked.

          'We may only have one shot with it, I don't want to waste it on a door,' Finn replied. Just then, they felt the grate give and they pulled it off. However, their sword was left seriously deformed and bent. 'Great, just what we needed. 

          "Come on," they entered the dark ventilator shaft and switched on their headlights. The shaft was very narrow and they had to crawl in some parts, squeezing through tiny passageways. Finally, they made it to the other end and quickly smashed the grate off. Inside they found a massive spherical room, blinking with the lights of controls and flashing images on giant monitors. At the very centre of the room lay the megacomputer that controlled all boson jumping. They fired their boosters and hovered inside the room. "This is it."

          "What are we looking for?" Akatsuki asked. "What is that thing?" he asked when he saw the cube-shaped computer.

          "You don't want to play around with that," they warned. "Look for anything that might seem like the main control panel, or network hub. If we blow that, this thing won't give us any more trouble. We hope." 

          They began searching the room, which was a giant, hollowed out sphere. The megacomputer stood on a massive platform at its centre. All around them there were monitors, showing the battle from the various cameras mounted on Fort Mag. They even saw Akatsuki's team battling outside. There were even more of the ancient robots flooding onto the battlefield.

          "Hey Saotome, Subaru, over here," Akatsuki called.

          "What is it?" they asked as they floated over to take a look.

          "It looks like some kind of IFS interface," he said, looking at a small consol built into a platform at the front of the room. Finn zoomed his cameras in to examine the equipment.

          'I'm going outside,' Finn disconnected himself from the interface and secured his helmet. Ryoko did the same and Finn opened the hatch and climbed out. It took a moment to descend to the consol. It was painfully obvious on closer examination that it was made by humans. Finn mentally kicked himself for even thinking that aliens had ever built it. He touched down and looked at the controls. "I can't read it, I've never seen anything like it." 

          "Is it an IFS?" Akatsuki asked.

          "I think so," Finn touched the blue touchpad and one of the monitors displayed a familiar symbol. It was the same as the ones he and Ryoko had on the backs of their hands. There was a bright flash in one the monitors, which then zoomed in and followed the blast as it struck the Skylinx, reducing it to a floating chunk of molten metal. Finn pressed one of the buttons and the monitors all switched to the interior view of the room they were in. He pushed himself off the floor and grabbed onto Jetstream's open hatch. "I think this is what we're looking for," he said as he pulled himself back into the cockpit and sealed the hatch. 

          "We want to destroy everything in this room," they said when Finn had reconnected himself to the IFS. "But don't touch the cube, we want to keep that intact,"

          "Whys that?" Akatsuki asked. 

          "We just don't. Blowing it up would probably cause more trouble than it would solve," they picked up Jetstream's twisted sword and raised it high above their heads. "Bye bye Fort Mag," they said as they brought the sword down into the control panel. However, before they could fully do so an explosion sent them crashing to the floor. Pieces of the unprotected hull went flying everywhere.

          'How did any Successors follow us in here?' Ryoko asked. To both of them, the blast felt like being hit by an oncoming train.

          'That wasn't a Successor,' Finn groaned as they pulled themselves out of the floor. 

          "Akatsuki," they said when they looked up and saw Akatsuki floating there, a smoking railgun in his hand. 

          'Damnit, I knew it!" Finn's blood boiled. 'I knew we should have known better than to trust that cold-blooded oversized iguana!'

          "You traitorous worm," they said as they came to their feet. Jetstream's sword had snapped in two, the broken tip lay suspended between the two robots. 

          "And you even saw it coming!" Akatsuki said. Jetstream raised its arms and prepared to fire the guns. "You wouldn't try anything in here, not with your precious jump computer laying exposed and vulnerable. You wouldn't want to upset history, would you?"

          "We'd have till the end of time to clean you off the walls, Akatsuki. We might risk it," the guns clicked as they safety was turned off. Akatsuki floated closer, but they stood fast.

          "Even with your paranoia, Saotome, you're still too trusting. You were weakened before you started, weakened by your sense of trust."

          'Target the upper body, cockpit area. We want to finish this quickly,' Finn thought. Ryoko gave a mental nod. Akatsuki floated back a few meters before firing from his railgun. They raised Jetstream's distortion field, but it was too late. As their field came into being, the railcharges were in a close enough range and exploded. The field contained the blast within the field's area, trapping Jetstream a violent inferno. Finally, the pressure from the contained explosion was so great; it finally blew the distortion field out from the inside. Jetstream floated, it's paint blackened and exposed parts partially melted. Quickly, before they could gather themselves, Akatsuki fired again and again until his weapon ran out of charges. Jetstream's left arm was torn off and several parts of the chest were blasted open. Finn and Ryoko felt the damage being inflicted as though the charges had struck them directly. Akatsuki stared at the crippled robot. Before he could react, Jetstream came to life and opened fire with its one remaining machinegun. A torrent of bullets collided with Akatsuki's distortion field. However, before it could do much damage, the gun ceased fire, having run out of ammunition. Jetstream then lunged at Akatsuki's aesti, causing them to collide with the opposite wall. They picked the broken handle to Jetstream's sword out of the air and brought it down towards Akatsuki's chestplate. Akatsuki caught their wrist before the broken blade made contact and, with both hands, tried to force it back.

          "Give it up, it'll only hurt for a second," Finn and Ryoko grunted, pulling every last spark of energy they could from their already overworked PT engine. "Should have known better than to trust you."

          "You're first mistake, but not your last!" Akatsuki yelled back as he brought his knee into Jetstream's stomach. During the brief pause, Akatsuki then forced Jetstream off.  "You know this city is priceless. It wouldn't be very profitable to just destroy it."

          "Fort Mag's power is beyond anything you can imagine! You can't control it! We couldn't, what makes you think you can?" 

          "I will win by any means! At any cost!" Akatsuki grabbed and charged up his distortion blade. "What's a warrior without weapons?"

"A warrior still," Finn and Ryoko answered,

"No, nothing. You are nothing compared to me!" Akatsuki yelled. "Let's see, where are we now? I have the only weapon, I have the power to dominate the course of human history, and the only remaining obstacle in my path to unimaginable power, is you." He charged forward and smashed Jetstream into the wall. "Exhausted, damaged beyond repair," Akatsuki raised his weapon. "defeated."

          "Not…just….yet," they struggled to say. Quickly, they searched their surroundings for anything that could serve as a weapon. Finn spotted a twisted piece of a steel bar that had been dislodged when Jetstream crashed into the wall. They grabbed it and smashed Akatsuki's head with it. Akatsuki was taken off guard and was pushed back with each blow. However, all they succeeded in doing was slightly denting the asti's armour. Akatsuki swung his blade and severed Jetstream's remaining hand. 

          "Oh really, come on. An iron bar, against an aestivalis?" Akatsuki grabbed the helpless Jetstream by the throat and held them up by it. "Face it. You've lost."

          "Bite me," they spat, flipped the main gun forward, and began to charge it up. Akatsuki just laughed, but they continued charging. "Now you're going to pay the price for pissing us off!" However, before the cannon even charged up past 20% it exploded. "What the hell?"

          "You were too careless," Akatsuki grinned. "You were right, you know. I do know everything you've done, every last little detail of your insignificant lives. You may spin your webs, but I spin them larger," he thrust the blade into Jetstream's chest and through the cockpit. Finn could fell every system beginning to fade, among other things.

          'Ryoko? Ryoko?!' he could feel her presence fading. 'Ryoko, come back to me!' Finn's vision was grainy and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He could hear Akatsuki's laughter. There was a flash of light, and before he knew it, Finn found himself on a grassy plain near the edge of a cliff. "I know this place," he said to himself. There was no one to be seen while he walked along the edge. Up ahead, he saw something in the grass. "Ryoko!" he burst into a run and found her in a yellow sundress laying in the sun. "Ryoko!" he knelt down beside her and took her hand. However, she became slightly transparent at his touch, like a ghost. The sound of his heart beating was overly audible. 

          "Hey Saotome," Ryoko said in a weak voice. "Don't go getting all gushy on me."

          "Ryoko," Finn's hand began to pass through Ryoko's.

          "You know what you have to do," she said. 

"I can't, how could I destroy it? How could I do that and live with myself. I'd rather be dead and with you than have never known you at all!" Finn said.

"Don't be an idiot," Ryoko said. "You can't let the Captain down, and you sure as hell can't let me down. Just promise me one thing," Finn looked at her eyes, his glistened with unrestrained tears. "Don't go and forget about me." Finn nodded grimly.

          "You got it," his hand fell through Ryoko and hit the ground. She slowly faded away, a content smile on her face. 

          "Give 'em hell."

          Finn's vision returned, and he looked around. Akatsuki had withdrawn the blade from Jetstream's cockpit.

          "Anyone still alive in there?" he heard Akatsuki laugh. He could feel Ryoko's life slip away, but not without feeling the blood seep from her wounds and the pain that followed it. 

          "Akatsuki," Finn seethed with anger and hatred, more intense than anything he had ever felt before.

          "Ah, so there is someone still alive in there! Saotome, you look like you're having a rough day."

          "Shut your fucking mouth!" he thrust forward, channelling all of Jetstream's functions through his own implant. He could feel the stress as the information meant for two minds surged into one. But his efforts were of little use. Jetstream had no hands to fight with, so he merely pushing Akatsuki's frame back against the wall. Akatsuki rammed his aesti's fist into Jetstream, sending it crashing into the opposite wall. "I won't let it be for nothing, Ryoko."

          "Are you still babbling to yourself?" Akatsuki grinned.

          "You're dead. This time, this time there's nothing holding me back!" Finn screamed and, with the limited mobility Jetstream had with a single pilot, pulled himself from the broken wall.

          "Big talk for a piece of scrap. Face it, you're lost," Akatsuki brought his blade level with Jetstream's cockpit. Finn looked around for any kind of weapon. However, the handle of the broken sword lay embedded in the ceiling, and Akatsuki's discarded railgun was out of ammo, and without any hands such a weapon would be of little use. "What can you possibly do?"

          "Improvise," Finn said and thrust forward, cranking his engines to full, and ploughing into Akatsuki, causing them to both fall hard into the megacomputer. Finn manoeuvred Jetstream into a position that pinned Akatsuki against the massive computer. Quickly, he send the commands to his PT engine, which began charging to infinite capacity. Before Akatsuki could free himself, Jetstream's PT engine overloaded.

          From outside, Fort Mag's head erupted in a massive flash of light.

          …to be continued in Act 9

**End of Act 8**


	9. Enter the Pilot: Act 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

**Act 9**

****

**Mars Colony**

          "Finn, wake up. It's already past noon. You don't want to sleep the whole day away again, do you?" came a sweet voice belonging to a young woman. Finn opened his eyes a crack, bright sunlight poured in through an open window. 

          "What?" he asked, shielding his eyes.

          "Finally, it's time to get up. You're going to become nocturnal or something if you keep sleeping in this late," came the young woman's voice again.

          Finn suddenly burst upright, his eyes wide open, looking around the room.

          "What's the matter? Are you alright?" the young woman asked. Finn looked at her. She was fairly tall with a long braid of dark red hair down her back. She was wearing black track pants and a dark blue turtleneck. Altogether she was very good looking and looked like the kind of girl who'd throw herself in front of an oncoming train to rescue a puppy. "We're having dinner tonight with the Tenkawas, so you'd better snap out of whatever flaked out mood you're in fast."

          "What…huh?"

          "You're not sick are you?" she pressed her hand against his forehead. "You seem to be alright. What's the matter with you? I haven't seen you like this since the time you were attacked by those giant man-eating octopi."

          "Man-eating octopi," Finn repeated. "What day is it?"

          "The 12th, Sunday," the young woman answered. "What's wrong with you? I know you're weird, but I've never seen you so wigged out before. You're still in one piece, right?" 

Finn looked himself over. "It would seem so…but…I don't know," he scratched his head. "I guess I'm ok."

          "Good," she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Come on, hurry up. We were going over the wedding plans today. You don't want anyone making decisions for you, do you?"

          "Right, I'll be out in a few minutes," Finn said and the young woman left. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked himself. He noticed a wallet sitting on the night table beside the bed and picked it up. Inside he found driver's license, cards, and a few bucks in cash. The license had his picture and name printed on it. "At least I know I'm not totally crazy," but still, something puzzled him. A picture fell out of the wallet and onto the floor. Picking it up, Finn noticed it was a picture of himself and the young woman at the beach. He knew who he was, where he was, but he didn't. It was like being in some strange dream. However, he knew well enough this was real. He examined his hands and found all ten digits still where they were supposed to be. However, something on the backs of his hands bothered him, or rather, lack there of. "What's going on here?"

          Suddenly, things began to fall into place. "Ok," he said to himself. "Finn Saotome, 188cm tall, 67kg. I know that much. And," he examined the picture. "This is…hmm…now I remember. She's Yumi Yoshino. It's starting to come back. Man, what's wrong with me? Snap out of it." He got up and stumbled his way towards the bathroom. Discarded pieces of clothing caused him to stumble around. T-shirts and track pants were primarily to blame. It was at this time that he took a good look at his surroundings. The bedroom was small, with a double bed along the right-hand side of the room with a large window, the curtains drawn back, and sun pouring through. There was a chest of drawers to the left, with a window facing the outside. He wandered over and stared outside, which was sunny with not a cloud in the sky. When he opened the window he felt a sudden rush of warm air. Something puzzled Finn though. He knew this was the apartment he shared with Yumi and he knew that they were going to have dinner with the Tenkawas. But at the same time, he didn't. It was like this was all new to him, even though he knew perfectly well where he was. 

          It was a beautiful day outside, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud to be seen as Finn opened the window and took in a breath of the Martian air. "Isn't it a glorious day, Mr. Sun?" 

          "It's always a good day, Finn," the Sun replied. "With two scoops of raisins." The Sun then dumped two scoops of giant raisins onto the colony. 

          When he had showered and dressed, Finn made his way to the main room of the small apartment. On his way through the doorway between the bedroom, however, he bashed his head against the low doorframe. 

          "You alright?" Yumi asked, coming over and finding a dazed Finn on the floor, a minibandage across his forehead. 

"Mum, I'd like some chocolate Mum. I want some Mars bars," Finn babbled

"First thing we're doing once we're married is getting a house, or at least a bigger apartment." Yumi said, shaking her head. Even though he was still seeing stars, these words stuck Finn like a bolt of lightning. "Still with me there?" she poked him with a ruler.

          "Nah, never better!" Finn jumped up, only to crush his head into his neck on the low-hanging doorframe. "That's going to require some surgery," he squeaked.

          Once Finn had recovered from his daily concussions, he and Yumi had lunch at a small café down the street from their apartment building. 

          "I'm still getting used to the red sky," Yumi remarked when they had finished their meal and were taking a walk around the Utopia colony.

          'That's right, Yumi's from Earth,' Finn thought. 'Damnit, what's wrong with me? Why do I feel like this is…so different?'

          "But you'd probably think a blue sky's weird," Yumi continued. "I know the wedding's two months away, but do you think we could go there for our honeymoon? Or do you think you'll be able to leave Mars? The trip is hell, I'll give you that, but once you get there, ah, it's so beautiful,"

          "Well, I guess a planetary construction site isn't the most romantic getaway," Finn admitted. "And I've never flown in space before." They stopped at the travel office and picked up a few brochures. "I don't think I'd ever get used to the seasons on Earth. Freezing snow one part of the year and frying heat in the summer? Crazy,"

          "Doesn't the same weather ever get boring though?" asked Yumi. "I mean, I know I've only been on Mars a few years, but I'd like to see a little variation once and a while."

          "Crazy Earthlings," Finn smirked.

          "Martian freaks," Yumi teased. "I don't know how you stand it."

          "It's like a new pair of underwear," Finn explained.

          "How's that?"

          "At first it's strange and confining, but then it becomes a part of you." Yumi burst into a fit of laughter. Finn, though laughing himself, almost braced himself for something, as though Yumi were about to knock his lights out. Yumi rested her head on his shoulder and he slipped his arm around her waist. 

          They arrived at a small building a little while later.

          "Hello, can I help you?" asked a woman, coming out from the back of the store. There were dresses, flowers, and pictures of brides along the walls.

          "We're here to see Izumi about how things are going," Yumi answered. "It's under the name Saotome." Finn's expression changed ever so slightly at the mention of this name, but his train of thought derailed before he could think about it too much.

          "Oh right," the woman said. "Please, come this way." She motioned for them to follow her to the back of the shop where they found a woman wearing an artist's smock and thick glasses hovering over a small model of a church during a wedding. There were little model people sitting and a model bride and groom at the alter. 

          "How's it going?" Yumi asked.

          "Everything's set," the woman, who Finn figured to be Izumi, said, referring to the model. She stood up and pulled a small pointer out of her pocket. "It takes two people to run a wedding. Not one, two. One out front and one inside. Finn, you're friend Kazuya will run the backstage team. Yumi, you're friend Yoroko will be the liaison between Kazuya's backstage team and my frontstage team, which includes myself at the door."

          "Sounds ok to me," Finn said, looking at the model.

          "Now, to the left and the right of the alter," Izumi placed two more models into the setting. "are the machine gun nests, filled with MK16 brownings. Now these babies tend to heat up, so fire in three second bursts. In the event of capture, I will personally deliver cyanide capsules to be placed under the tongue like so." She placed a sugar pill under her tongue in demonstration. Finn and Yumi both sweatdropped.  " Now, as for your attire. Full body armour underneath with Kevlar making up the outside. Yumi, your veil will be made from a Kevlar base with fibreglass support frames. Any questions?"

          "I have a question," Finn said, daring to raise his hand. "When did you turn into a nutbar?" 

          Yumi elbowed him in the stomach lightly, but Finn instinctively braced for something more. "We're not expecting a war-zone." There was an awkward silence. 

"Well, we can always go with the _standard_ set up," Izumi said.

"Tell me why we're doing this through her, again?" asked Finn after he and Yumi had left the shop.

"Akito and Yurika had Izumi plan their wedding," Yumi replied.

"Yeah, and remember the mandatory DNA samples they took at the door?" Finn rubbed his arm. "I still think they took too much marrow." 

          "Outta my way!" someone said and burst between the two of them, knocking both of them to the ground.

          "What the?" Finn picked himself up. "You alright?"

          "Yeah, I'm fine," Yumi answered.

          "Come back here!" came a shout from behind. A man stood on the sidewalk outside a shop shaking his fists.

          "Looks like you'd better get to work," Yumi said, dusting herself off.

          "What do you mean?" asked a confused Finn.

          "You're a cop, so get after him."

          "What?" Finn's brain began to start working.

          "You a cop?" the man asked, running up to them.

          "Well…technically yeah, I'm just the…" 'What am I?' he asked himself. 'I don't know…'

          "I don't care if you're the coffee boy, if you're a cop, go after him!"

          "Alright, alright," Finn caved. "Damnit, what's wrong with me?" he asked himself for the fourth time that day. "You're coming too," he grabbed Yumi's arm and took off.

          "What are you bringing me along for? I'm just a traffic officer!" Yumi protested.

          " 'I don't care if you're the coffee boy' " Finn grinned. "Come on, we'll loose him," 'what am I doing? I'm not a street guy, I'm just the forensic profiler,' he thought. Something didn't quite fit, but he shrugged it off. 'Probably too much Jolt cola,' he concluded. A part of him would have felt a lot easier if he had a gun. 'What am I thinking? I've only fired at the range…'

          They were steadily gaining on their target, who was carrying a small box under his arm and was repeatedly looking over his shoulder.

          "We've got him now,' Yumi grinned as they approached a corner.

          "Shouldn't there be anyone on patrol around here?" asked Finn. They rounded the corner. 

          "Aw crap," Yumi came to a halt before they collided with a huge crowd of people. "I forgot, about the anniversary celebration.'

          "The what?"

          "You know, the colony's fifty year anniversary," Yumi explained. "What's wrong with you?"

          "Wish I knew," Finn said under his breath. He spotted someone rushing through the crowd not far from them. "And so the hunt begins."

          "You see him?"

          "Take the left side, I'll come up the right. He's pushing his way towards the far end of the street."

          "Come on," Yumi grabbed his arm and dragged him down a narrow side street.

          "Huh?"

          "No one knows the city streets better than a traffic cop," Yumi smirked. "Just follow me," she led him down a series of small side streets before they finally came back out into the crowd. "And here you have it." Their man was coming right for them. However, as they began to advance, he spotted them and ducked into a narrow alley. Finn was about to run off after him, but Yumi held him back. "Relax, it's a dead end."

          "Right," Finn reached for where he would have expected to find his gun. 'Oh, right.' 

          They made their way through the crowd and to the alley. Finn poked his head around the corner and saw their man trying to scale the brick walls up a drainpipe. Finn stepped into the alleyway, but assailant didn't seem to notice, and motioned for Yumi to follow.

          "Nu uh," she whispered. "Suicide's not in my job description."

          Finn stared at her, these words…he had heard them before somewhere. He was snapped out of his trance when the assailant slid down the drainpipe and back to the ground.

          "I guess I should tell you to give it up, you've got nowhere to run," Finn said, the man jumped and clutched the box.

          "What do you want? Who are you?" he asked, seeming very jittery and anxious.

          "I'm Lieutenant…I mean Detective Saotome, Utopia Colony police. Look, if you give up now the charges won't be as hard. I really don't want to have to tack resisting arrest onto what I'm assuming is already a larceny," Finn took a step closer and the man pressed his back into the end of the alleyway.

          "Just stay away from me, please. Just go away. _They're_ after me, you're one of _them_!"

          'Hmm…no go,' Finn looked at Yumi, who shrugged. "What exactly do you have there anyway?"

          "Just go away. You're one of them," the man said accusingly. This just puzzled Finn even more.

          "One of them? What are you talking about? I sit at a desk all day and play virtual pinball and sometimes I connect the dots, so to speak. I'm not part of the UF or anything, if that's what you're afraid of." 

          "Just back away. Leave me alone." 

          Finn's eye twitched. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you," the man still clutched the box. "K, how about this? For every question you answer I'll take one step back. How's that sound?"

          "No tricks? How can I trust you?" the man asked. His face relaxed somewhat, but his body stance was still wound up like some kind of spring-loaded toy.

          "Alright, for starters, what's your name?"

          "Keitaro Onishi," the man said, Finn took a step back.

          "Ok. So what's in the box?" Finn asked, but the man remained quiet. "I'm not carrying a gun or anything, I told you, I sit at a desk and play pinball most of the time."

          "It's a stone."

          "Like a diamond or something?" Finn asked, taking another step back.

          "No, it's a rock."

          "Where did it come from originally?"

          "The south pole."

          "And what's so special about this rock?"

          "Hey, Yumi!" came a loud voice from the street. "Where's your boyfriend? I thought you didn't let him out of your sight."

          'Aw crap, just what we needed,' Finn thought, looking over his shoulder. A small group of people came up to Yumi, led by a tall man wearing sunglasses. 

          "What are you doing here?" asked Yumi, noticing they were in uniform. "I thought everyone had the day off today."

          "We got called in, some punk broke into some place the military sends stuff to be analysed and stole something. We heard he came this way, you seen him?" the man wearing sunglasses asked. "What are you doing by an alley anyway? I'd have thought you'd be at home 'celebrating',' one of the female officers smacked him on the back of the head. Yumi nervously glanced at Finn in the alley. "What's in there? Oh, hey Saotome, taking a leak or something? Ow! Stop hitting me, Ikaru."

          "Aw crap," Finn muttered as the jittery Keitaro dropped the box and drew a knife and charged at him. "Whoa! Hang on a sec!"

          "I knew you were with _them_!" Keitaro cried and took a slash at Finn, who jumped back. Keitaro dove at Finn and they both crashed to the ground, Keitaro trying to force his blade into Finn's chest.

          "Finn!" Yumi cried, watching as Finn and Keitaro grappled.

          "Alright Saotome, time to let the big boys take over," the man wearing the sunglasses said, taking off his gloves. "Stand aside."

          "Easier said than done," Finn grunted in reply, trying to push Keitaro's knife-wielding hand back. "But I wouldn't mind a hand, if you're not too busy?"

          "Nah, on second thought, I'll let you handle it," the man laughed lightly. "You get so sickly and pale looking spending all your time at the precinct. It's good to see you outside," the other officers made a move to help Finn, but the sunglasses man blocked their way.

          "Finn uses his brain, rather than his fists to catch criminals," Yumi said. "Don't just stand there, help him!"

          "You're an officer, go help him yourself. It'd be good for you to get a little exercise along with him, " the sunglasses man said. Yumi bit her lip and looked at Finn. She made a move towards them, but the sunglasses man stopped her. "I was just kidding there, babe. Wouldn't want to see a pretty face like yours get all dirty." Yumi shook him off.

          "Don't be such a bastard," one of the other officers said.

          "Yeah, Saotome'd give you a hand if you were in the same sitch," someone else said.

          "Er…" the sunglasses man said. Someone gave him a kick in the ass, sending him forward a few steps. "Alright, alright. I was just joking. Jeez. Hang on Saotome." 

          Finn quickly slammed his knee into Keitaro's chest, knocking him off his guard. He then hit the knife out of his hands. Keitaro quickly jumped off Finn and made a dive for his weapon. Finn swung his leg around, causing his opponent to fall to the ground, and quickly kicked the knife further away. Keitaro took a swing at Finn, who ducked, dodged, and danced his away past each one before landing a solid blow to the man's stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. 

          "Wait!" Yumi cried as Finn was about to deliver another blow.

"What?"

 "That's enough. Someone, cuffs," a pair of handcuffs came sailing over their heads from someone at the back of the small group of officers. She quickly grabbed the stunned Keitaro's hands and locked them behind his back. "Are you alright?" she asked Finn.

          "Yeah, I'm ok," replied Finn as he dusted himself off, a small trickle of blood dripped of his hand from where it had connected with the blade of the knife. 

          "You're bleeding, you sure?" Yumi asked.

          "Just a flesh wound," Finn opened and closed his hand. "Ow."

          "Yeah, right." 

          "I got it, Yumi," one of the other officers said and brought Keitaro to his feet. "Come on."

          "Thanks for all your help, Nakajima," Finn said with an oh so sweet hint of sarcasm.

          "I was just waiting until you needed some real help," Nakajima said, everyone looked at him. "Come on, he was holding his own."

          "I think he's still mad at you for busting the Ikari case," Yumi whispered to Finn. "Let me see this," she grabbed Finn's hand and dragged him into the sunlight.

          "He should have been mine," Nakajima said, anime waterfalls coming from behind his sunglasses. 

          "I think you'll live," Yumi said, ignoring the raving Nakajima and looking at Finn's hand. "I'll patch that up with butterfly tape when we get home."

          "Where's my violin?" someone asked and the crowd chuckled.

          "I'm sure you'll nurse him back to health," the crowed burst out in laughter. "I can just picture Yumi in a tight nurse's outfit!"

          "You should see it," Yumi mock-slapped Finn for that remark. For some reason, he actually braced himself for the real thing.

          "Anyway, thanks for the hand," Nakajima said. "See ya," they hauled Keitaro off to a waiting patrol car at the end of the blocked off street.

          "Wait a sec," Finn disappeared into the shadows of the alley and emerged a sec seconds later. "They forgot this." He held the box in his hands. Glancing towards the end of the street, he just caught the rear of the police car disappear around a corner. 

          "You can drop it off at the evidence room tomorrow," Yumi said, what's in there anyway?" Finn lifted the lid and found a lustrous chunk of rock. "I wonder what's so special about a rock, other than the fact that it's somewhat shiny."

          "Looks can be deceiving," Finn said and he closed the box. "Anyway, yeah, I'll just drop it off tomorrow."

          When they arrived home, they crashed on the couch and turned on the TV. "Let's find out what scoobie and the gang are up to," Finn said as he turned the device on.

          "We now return you to the Scooby Doo Murder Files," the narrator on the TV said.

          "Gee wiz gang," said Freddie. "Looks like the killer gutted the victim, strangled him with his own intestines, and then dumped the body in the river."

          "Jinkies." Added Velma.

          "Roobyroo?"

          "You're right Scoob, we're dealing with one sick son of a bitch," Freddie translated. 

          "Flip," Yumi said, sounding slightly disgusted. Finn changed the channel.

          "This programme is sponsored by Five Alive and brought to you by the letter H," the narrator said. "You have been watching: Homicide: Life on Sesame Street."

          The scene is two people asleep in bed, you can only see the tops of their heads, one is yellow with black hair and the other is orange with black hair. The phone rings. A yellow arm reaches out to answer.

          "Hello?" Bert asks. "Son of a bitch, alright I'm on my way." Bert gets out of bed and takes a drink from a bottle. "Some guy got his head blown off down at a place called Hoopers,"

          "Bert," says Ernie. "I wish you wouldn't drink so much, Bert."

          "Well Ernie, I wish you wouldn't eat cookies in the damn bed!"

          "Bert, you're shouting again Bert," Ernie cowers.

          "Sheesh," Bert gives up. 

**Dinner is Served**

          "Where're we meeting them again?" asked Finn as he changed into slightly better attire.

          "Yurika said at the restaurant," Yumi answered as she emerged from the shower, a towel draped around her body.

          "What's the occasion?" Finn asked, trying not to let his eyes wander too much over her. However, try as he might, it was like trying to discourage moths from a porch-light. There was some kind of 'gulp' sound that bubbled from his throat.

          "Hard to port!" his brain ordered his eyes.

          "It's no good captn,  we're being sucked in!" his eyes answered. 

          "They just adopted a twelve year-old girl," Yumi said, sifting through a drawer of black………socks. The author hears the reader facefault. 

          "Hey Yumi," Finn said as looked at a white shirt. "How do you get my clothes so white and fresh smelling?"

          "It's an ancient Chinese secret that very few people know about." 

          "Oh, I see," Finn spotted a laundry basket with a box tucked between the clothes. He picked it up. "Wait a sec, Calgon? Ancient Chinese secret huh?"

          "Oh, guess what I found the other day," Yumi grabbed a small CD case from a back on the dresser and tossed it to Finn. "Look at that old one,"

          "Gundam Endless Waltz? Everyone in the world has EW, if you lived in the suburbs you were issued it. It came in the mail with samples of Tide."

          "You," Yumi half-heartedly smacked him on the face. 

          The sun had just dipped below the red horizon when Finn and Yumi walked out into the street. Finn was in a navy-blue suit while Yumi wore her red evening dress. As they walked down the street in the direction of Akito's restaurant, Finn noticed a car coming towards them in the fading light. As it passed, he caught a glimpse of a woman in the passenger seat. She had black hair that came down to her shoulders, a mole on her right cheek, and looked like some kind of high-ranking secretary of some sort. There was something about her that made the alarm bells in Finn's head go off. 

          "Hey, what's up? Something wrong?" asked Yumi when she saw Finn's perplexed face. "You've been acting strange all day,"

          "It's nothing," Finn replied. "I just thought I recognized someone,"

          "You sure? It's like you don't know where you are, I keep seeing you staring off into space," Yumi said, her concern was clearly visible in her voice.

          "I don't know. It's like…this is a dream or something. I keep expecting to wake up, but I don't even know what I'd wake up to," Finn explained, although not even sure of what he was even saying.

          "Well, just don't do anything too strange."

          "What are you implying?"

          "Remember the time you turned Akito's house into a giant puppet?"

-----------------------------Flashback---------------------------------

          "That's right, I'm the Tenkawa's house!" boomed a voice as the front door of a house opened and closed. "All bow before Tenkawa's house! Bring me a toolshed for I am hungry!"

-----------------------------End Flashback-----------------------------

          They arrived at Akito's restaurant a few minutes later.

          "Hey Akito, I'm surprised the kitchen could spare you on a night like this," Finn said when they entered and found Akito and Yurika waiting for them. It was moderately busy and the large dining area was alive with talk. There was something strange when they shook hands. Of course he had known Akito for years, same with Yurika, who had both been in the Utopia colony all their lives. It was like meeting someone you knew, but didn't remember where from. As though they knew each other in some other way.

          "It's good to see you again," Yurika said. "Ever since you made detective it seems as though you've been working double the hours."

          "What?" asked Finn, everyone looked at him strangely. "Oh right, yeah. I guess it all comes with the territory."

          "Is he alright?" Yurika asked Yumi as Akito led them to their reserved table.

          "He's just been working too much," Yumi said. "They keep him at the precinct till all hours some nights."

          "He just seems…different," Yurika said. "There's nothing going on between you two, is there?"

          "No, we're alright. He's just been kind of flakey all day."

          They were led to a large table, where a girl, looking about twelve or thirteen was waiting for them. She was very pale and had long silvery hair. 

          "This is Ruri," Akito said, introducing the girl. 

          "Hey Ruri, nice to see you again," Finn said, extending his hand.

          "I've never met you before," Ruri said. Finn looked puzzled.

          "This is what I'm talking about," Yumi whispered to Yurika as they sat down. 

          "And yet, you seem familiar," Ruri continued, everyone looked at her. "How very strange."

          "Maybe she was in some kind of trouble and he helped her out?" Yurika suggested.

          "Could be, where is Ruri from anyway?" asked Yumi.

          "From Earth, an institute in Luxemburg was closed and was forced to give up custody of all the children they were 'studying'." 

          "Then I doubt it was Finn."

          "I remember I was in a place like this once," Finn said. "It was three o'clock in the morning, and I was looking for 1000 brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or the Chief wouldn't leave his office. Just then, one of the guys from burglary pops around and mentions that there's a little sweets shop not to far away. We go, and, what'll you know, it's closed. So here we are breaking into this little sweets shop. Well, instead of a guard-dog they've got this great, big, bloody Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shop owner and his son, that's another story all together," Finn stared off into space. "I had to beat them to death with their own shoes." Everyone stared at him, their mouths slightly hanging open. "Or not." Yumi covered her mouth to hide her the stifled laughs that escaped her throat.

          "Idiots," Ruri said under her breath, but couldn't help but crack a smile.

          The night continued as you might expect a gathering of friends to go. They ate, talked, drank, and told old stories. It was strange for Finn because, even though he could accurately remember every event to which the others referred, he felt as though he didn't really live them. It was like he held two sets of memories of the same time period. He knew that he had never met Ruri before, but felt as though he already knew her. Suddenly, a name came to mind.

          "Ruri, can I ask you a question?" he said during a lull in the conversation. Ruri nodded. "Does the name Omoikane mean anything to you? Does that ring any bells?"

          "Where did that come from?" Akito asked. 

          "I don't know, it just came from somewhere," Finn replied. "For some reason it rings a bell."

          "As a matter of fact, it does sound familiar," Ruri said. "But I can't remember where from."

          "You feeling alright, Finn?" Akito asked when he saw Finn's expression. "You're acting stranger than usual."

          "Yeah, I…I'm fine," Finn said as he got up from his chair. "Excuse me for a sec," and he left the table for the men's room. "What's wrong with me?" he asked himself, splashing water from the tap into his face. "First I wake up and have no idea who or where I am, next thing I forget what my job is, and now I ask Ruri weird questions. Come on Finn, you're a profiler, you're supposed to explain weird behaviour."

          "You alright, Saotome?" came a voice from the door. Finn looked up and saw Akito there.

          "You know what? I honestly don't know," he replied, drying his face on a piece of paper towel.

          "Yumi said you've been acting strangely all day, anything wrong?"

          "Nothing and everything. Do you ever feel like you're living in a dream? Like you know everything that you've done in your life, but you have a completely separate set of memories from somewhere you don't even know? Probably sounds crazy, I know."

          "Well, that does sound kind of strange," Akito said, scratching his head.

          "I feel like I don't know anything that's happened, like I've been living in a dream world until I woke up this morning." 

          "Are you nervous about the wedding? It's only a month away; it's normal to feel kind of anxious. I remember when Yurika and I…"

          "I don't think it has anything to do with that," Finn interrupted. They stood in silence for a few minutes. "I have a favour to ask."

          "What's that?" Akito asked as he and Finn stood face to face.

          "I want you to hit me."

          "Come again?" Akito asked, confused.

          "I want you to hit me," Finn repeated.

          "Are you nuts? I can't hit you."

          "Akito, I'm asking you, hit me."

          "Look, I've known you for a long time, and I've never seen you act this way before. Are you sure there's not something wrong?" Akito asked. Finn looked seriously at his friend. 

          "I'm going to ask you one more time," he said. "hit me,"

          "I'm not going to…" Akito was cut off as Finn delivered a solid punch to his face.

          "I'm sorry," Finn said. "Please, I'm asking you, hit me."

          "Alright, if you're serious," Akito said reluctantly, still slightly dazed from the blow. He brought his right arm backand slammed his fist into the side of Finn's face, closing his eyes the second before he connected. "Wow," he said when he opened his eyes. He was surprised to find that Finn had not even flinched. The only sign that Akito had actually done anything to him was a small red mark on his face. "Feeling better?"

          "A little," Finn smirked. "Thanks, I needed that."

          "What happened to you two?" Yumi asked when Finn and Akito returned to the table, noticing the areas on their faces where bruises were beginning to form. 

          "I slipped and banged my face on the towel dispenser," Finn answered. "Don't worry about it."

          "I'll have to ask the cleaning crew to use less slippery detergent on the floors," Akito said, Yurika and Yumi sweatdropped. Ruri looked at Finn with a strange curiosity.  

          "Well, I suppose we'd better be going," Yumi said when she noticed the restaurant nearly deserted. Finn glanced at his watch and noticed it was past midnight. They left the table and Finn gave their waiter his tip.

          "Sir, I can't accept this. It was on the house, please, you don't have to worry about it," the waiter said.

          "Alright then," Finn said and waited until the waiter turned his back. When he did so, Finn slipped the money into his pocket without him noticing. Yumi looked at him and shook her head with a smile. "Ok," he said when they were all standing outside in the cool night air. Stars sparkled overhead and they could see both of Mars' moons inching their way across the sky. They exchanged thank-yous and goodbyes and then went their separate ways. 

          "Something wrong?" asked Finn when he noticed a distressed look on Yumi's face as they walked home.

          "No, it's nothing," Yumi said and she looked at him, her eyes shimmering.

          "If you're worried about me, don't be. I mean, I'm probably just having a weird day. I'll probably feel better after a good night's sleep."

          "Oh," Yumi said in an overly disappointed voice. "I thought maybe we could spend some time _together_."

          "Why? What can you and I do together?"

          "Well…" 

          "You've got a sick mind!" Finn said accusingly. 

          "I'm talking about making love, you moron," Yumi said.

          "Oh, I thought you wanted to kill Akito and his family and harvest their organs for an interplanetary jungle voodoo cult."

          Yumi sweatdropped and Finn laughed to himself. "Well, at least you're acting somewhat normal now, or, at least what can be considered normal for you."

          They arrived at their small apartment a little while later. It was dark and they tripped over their own feet, among other various objects scattered over the floor.

          Due to certain requests from readers, the following explicit, hot, steamy, oh-so-delicious sex scene will not be shown. Instead we give you…the Women's Television Network? * puke *  The author would also like to declare his neutrality in the following rant, that he in no way means to intentionally offend certain groups executives at a TV channel that shall remain nameless. 

          "A collection of estragon pumped feminazies who believe that Bic is just a lighter and not a razor too," the fanfic critic says. "A channel so devoid of content and viewers that not even feminine hygiene products want to be advertised on it. And I'm not just saying that because it employs three of my ex-wives."

          "Thank you nutbar fanfic critic," the author says. "Anyway, moving on…"

          "Hey author, how did you get that gash in your hand?" the reader asks.

          "Oh this…I um…" the author taps some device on his ear. "I hurt it in a budging accident." a laser target appears at the side of his head. "I mean, boating accident. I have to go now," the author is dragged into the back room. "We now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfic!" 

**A Day At The Office**

          "Young Saotome!" came a voice from somewhere in the large area of the forensic department of the Utopia Colony Police precinct 6. "Come hither and give heed!"

          "Wow sorry, I don't swing that way," Finn replied as he approached the voice's source. 

          "Jeez man, what's with you and the gay jokes?" the young man asked. 

          "Alright, what do you need from me today, Kazuya?" Finn asked as he took a seat in at his desk.

          "You made any progress on the 427 case yet?"

          "Not really, the guy is totally erratic, it's taking time to predict where he'll strike next," Finn said as he sifted through a stack of files on his desk.

          "Ah, you're slipping. Fresh out of school you'd have been able to nail that guy by the third strike," Kazuya laughed. "Hey, you're gettin hitched to that chick in Traffic right?"

"Yeah," Finn nodded. "You're supposed to be there."

"Poor you, man. Poor you," Kazuya shook his head. "Been there, tried that, and I'm telling you, no thank you very much."

"Why do you say that?" Finn asked curiously.

"You'll know soon enough. I guess with you two it was one of those 'meant to be' kinda things. I mean, when she walked in here looking for the Chief that first time you were totally out of it. I could have held a gun to your head or thrown a brick in your face. Then you met up with her again at the warehouse incident."

Finn entered reminisce mode.

          Two years ago…

"Hey, what's the sitch here?" Finn asked as he walked onto the crime scene. There had been a drive-by shooting and there were police everywhere, not to mention ambulances.

"Drive-by," one of the officers said. 

"Where's the victim?"

"DOA, they've already carried him off, here's the sketch mark," the officer led him over to the chalk outline of the body. 

"So why exactly do you need me out here?" asked Finn.

"We think this one's related to the one a few weeks ago," the officer explained. 

Finn looked around. It was a commercial/industrial district still under construction. The only buildings that were up and running were the warehouses behind the storefronts. One building in particular stood out to Finn. "Were there any witnesses?"

"Yeah, a guy running the convenience store across the street said he saw the victim come out of that building and head to the payphone, but he got gunned down before he got there," the officer said.

"Hmm," Finn walked over to the warehouse storefront and tried the door. "Locked. Does this thing open from the inside and lock itself from the outside?"

"I don't think so," someone said. 

"Is this one being used yet?"

"Yeah, used for foodstuffs."

"So there'd be a lot of people working in there?"

"Yes sir."

Finn entered the warehouse via the main entrance and examined the door from the inside. There was a large exit sign above it and a small electrical box attached to the handle. "Excuse me," he touched a worker on the shoulder. "Has the fire alarm gone off today?"

                    "No, I didn't hear it," the worker replied.

"Ok, thanks," Finn pulled out his radio. "Hey Chief, I got something."

                    "What've you found?" came the reply.

"I'm in the warehouse, I've got something to show you," Finn waited while the Chief and the witness arrived.

                    "What've you found?" the Chief asked again.

"The shop owner said that the victim came out from his emergency exit, right?"

"That's right," the shop-owner said. "He came out that door and walked towards the payphone, then a car came flying around the corner and opened fire, they even hit one of my windows!"

"It's just that this door is wired," Finn said.

                    "So what exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying this," he pushed the door handle down with his foot and kicked it open. A deafening blare of a fire alarm caused them all to drop whatever they were holding and cover their ears. Finn continued talking.

"I get the point, Saotome!" The Chief shouted. Finn removed his foot and allowed the door to close, the alarm shut off.

"…which means that the victim couldn't possibly have come out this exit without half the city block knowing," Finn concluded.

"Maybe he came out from another one," the Chief suggested.

"I've checked, they're all wired," Finn turned to the shop-owner. "You run the Easy-Mart just on the corner, is that correct?" the witness nodded. Finn left and led them back outside. "Hmm, there's one problem with you're account, sir."

"What's that? I saw him come right out that door," the shop-owner said, crossing his arms.

"Well, it's just that from this angle, that spruce tree blocks your view," Finn walked a little way down the street. "Now, from here I can see your checkout counter, which means…" he followed an invisible trail along the sidewalk and up to the building adjacent to the foodstuffs warehouse. "This is the closest exit from this building. he grabbed one of the officers who was loitering about. "Hey, what's this building being used for anyway?"

"It's empty, the company hasn't moved their stuff in yet," the officer replied. Finn walked up to the main entrance and jiggled the handle.

"It's been tampered with," he said and pushed the door open and disappeared inside, only to emerge a few seconds later via the side exit where he had left the Chief and the shop-owner standing. "Not a peep."

"So I made a mistake, it was from this one," the shop-owner said.

"But it gets better," Finn said and produced a paper bag from behind his back. "And now the million dollar question, can you name that narcotic?" he gave the bag to the Chief.

"I don't recognize it," the Chief said, taking the slightest of whiffs from the bag. 

"It's new, the guys at the lab have been calling it dead x, I didn't know what it was myself at first. Now, Finn said, turning to the shop-owner. "Let's go for a little walk," he led them away from the exit towards the chalk outline. "You said you saw him gunned down as a car came around the corner, right? How fast would you say he was going?"

"Fast, about 90km as he rounded the corner and probably 150km while he took off down the street," the shop-owner said. 

"I see," Finn walked into the middle of the blocked off street and into the intersection. "You said he was going about 90 when he came around the corner?" the shop-owner nodded. "Were the tires squealing?"

                    "Yeah, really loud."

"It's funny, I'd have thought that making such a sharp turn would have flipped the car," Finn said, looking at the ground.

                    "It had a wide wheel base, it wouldn't have flipped that easily."

"Going 90? Alright, I can see you're point," Finn picked a stone off the pavement. The shop-owner looked slightly relieved. "Just one thing," Finn said, tossing the stone into the air and catching it. "If the car came around the corner that fast, why don't I see any skid marks? If there was such a screech, there should be some skid marks." The shop-owner, at this time, was looking somewhat anxious. "I'm thirsty, you have a slushie machine in your store, right?"

"T-that's right," the shop-owner said and he followed Finn across the street and into the store.

"Alright!" Finn exclaimed when he saw the selection of flavours. "Not very many stores have orange left, it's all that blueberry stuff." He walked over, grabbed a cup and filled it to the brim. "That's a pretty nasty hole in your window there," he added when he brought his drink to the counter.

"I have insurance to pay for it," the shop-owner said. "Don't worry, no charge for the drink."

"Thanks," Finn took a long sip. "Where'd the bullet hit? I don't see any marks in the walls," the shop-owner looked nervous. Finn looked at the floors. "Oh well," he saw something on that sparked his interest. "Hey, a penny," he picked up the metallic object and dropped it in his pocket. "Well, I have run, see you later." 

Finn left the store and went over to join his fellow officers. "Hey Chief!" he called. "I got something. What calibre was the victim hit with?"

"Don't know yet, you'll have to wait for the ballistics to come back," the Chief answered.

                    "Best estimate?"

"Something big, no lower than a '45," someone said. "So far no shell casings."

Finn pulled the piece he had picked up off the store's floor out of his pocket. "You requested a shell casing? You're man's that way," he stuck his thumb in the direction of the store. 

          A group of armed officers began making their way towards the store. 

                    "What makes you so sure?" the Chief asked.

"I hope those guys have body armour on," Finn said, not paying any real attention to the Chief. Some guy fell to the ground clutching his leg as a shot was fired. Finn winced. "Nope."

Eventually the shop-owner was dragged from the store in cuffs, and a few officers had suffered only minor injuries. Finn wandered over to the barricade, where traffic officers were redirecting cars around the crime scene.

"Oh, hey Detective," one of the female officers said. "Taking time to get to know the little folk?"

"Eh?" Finn looked over his shoulder at the person who was talking. "It's you…"

"Of course it's me, I'm not anyone else, am I?" the officer laughed. "I'm Yumi, traffic division."

"I…Detective Finn Saotome," Finn said. "With…"

"Forensic," Yumi finished.

"Right, how'd…?

"Let's just say the gossip goddess filled me in," Yumi nudged her head in another female officer's direction. "You are 188cm tall, weigh 67kg, are single, and you lived in the New Ontario-Mars province to the north before you came to the Utopia Colony, shall I go on?"

Finn sweatdropped. "Jeez, I didn't know I was that popular down in Traffic."

"Believe me pal, every girl in the precinct knows your name," some guy who was listening in on the conversation. Finn turned his head to look at him. "Keep it moving, come on, that's it," he directed cars in the detour's direction. "But if you lay one hand on Aoikie I'll…"

"Don't mind him, he's got this thing for Aokie," Yumi interrupted. 

"It's not that…it's just that…I"

"Yeah we know, you couldn't spell your name in front of that girl if you had to." 

"Traffic's more interesting than I thought,' Finn thought.

The next few days passed as usual. Finn was busy on and off the crime scene, checking ballistics and connecting the dots in the criminal mind.

On one day in particular he picked up a pair of binoculars and stood at the window looking outside.

"What are you looking at? I see some of the Traffic babes down by the garage," Kazuya pointing in the garage's direction.

"Watching the birds," Finn replied. "Oh look, a blue-breasted honeysucker,"

"Yeah, I see one blue-breasted bird ready to suck my honey," Kazuya said, looking down at the girls. "Ow…" he squeaked when one of the female members of the forensic team beaned him in the head with a paperweight. "Anyway, the Chief wanted to see you for a sec, sounded serious."

Can't be _that_ bad," Finn said, putting the binoculars down.

"Whatever bug crawled up his ass, you might not want to piss it off."

"I'll keep that in mind," Finn said and dropped the binoculars in Kazuya's hands. "Try not to drool all over these things this time."

"Saotome, there you are," the Chief said as Finn walked into the sunny office. There was another person standing by the door as he walked in, someone Finn recognized. "I don't know if either of you have noticed, but lately both of your departments have been running more like a sewing circle than a police station."

"What do you mean, sir?" asked Finn, taking a quick glance at Yumi, who was standing beside him.

"Both departments' productivity have dropped like a rock, and both your section chiefs told me you spend more time staring into space than anything remotely related to work," the Chief sat down in his chair. "Which brings me to why you're both here."

'Aww crap, one of us is going to be reassigned,' Finn thought.

The Chief placed a piece of paper on his desk. "The two of you are hereby ordered to go on a date this weekend, here is your itinerary, I expect it followed by the word, understood?"

Both Finn and Yumi blinked. "Um…" they both looked at one another. "Yes sir, understood."

"She's not that bad looking though, great rack, nice ass…" Kazuya went on, Finn snapped back to reality.

"You know, there's more to it than a great body," Finn said. "Ever tried going beyond looks?"

"A novel concept," Kazuya said.  "Anyway, Nakajima came by not too long ago, said he wanted to ask you something about a box? I don't know, I'm just the messenger."

          "Oh, right," Finn removed a box from his bag and set it on the desk. "I found this yesterday when they busted some thief, not that I'll get any credit for it."

          "SAOTOME!" boomed a voice from the other end of the room.

          "Speaking of which," Kazuya sweatropped.

          "Saotome, there you are, you wouldn't happen to have found…" 

          "A box containing a rock? Yeah, I got it right here. You're getting too sloppy," Finn said, handing the box over to the sunglass-wearing lunatic.

          "Ahh, here you are, my precious," Nakajima said, opening the box and picking up the rock.

          "What's so special about it anyway?" asked Finn.

          "This, my friend, is a top secret piece of military excavation." Nakajima said. "The feds are going to go ape shit when they find out I found it."

          "Ahem," Finn cleared his throat.

          "Of course, you will receive partial credit for your minute contribution to its recovery," Nakajima added quickly.

          "So just what is it anyway? Looks like a normal chunk of Mars, if you ask me," said Finn.

          "This, my friend, is an unknown mineral only excavated recently at the South Pole," Nakajima explained. 

          "Uh hu…so it's a rock?"

          "Basically, here, have a look for yourself," Nakajima tossed the stone in Finn's direction and it proceeded to bounce off the desk and onto the floor. "That one's your fault, Saotome,"

          "Just like everything around here," Finn muttered and he reached down the pick up the stone. When his fingers touched it he received a sudden shock. Images flashed in front of his eyes at an alarming rate. He could feel his mind struggle to process the massive flood images, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures that surged into his head. Suddenly, he found himself laid sprawled out on a windy stretch of grassy land overlooking a cliff, at the bottom of which lay the infinite expanse of the dark blue ocean. Pulling himself up out of the tall grass, he looked around. Behind him lay an open expanse of land that was green all the way to the horizon, in front of him lay the cliff-fringed ocean. A sudden gust of wind blew him forward a few steps. It seemed to guide him somewhere, for when he came within a few feet of the edge of the cliff, the wind subtly changed direction and pushed him to the right along the side of the cliff edge. Even though Finn knew he had never once before experienced this, it all felt somewhat familiar, like the first time he saw Ruri. He followed the path the wind guided him until a faint flicker of yellow to the left caught his eye. He diverted from the chosen path and followed the brief flashes of yellow that appeared in the grass not to far away from him. When he paused for a moment the wind blasted him forward. When he reached his target, he found a girl in a faded yellow sundress laying in the grass. Her short hair was the colour of the glass and she lay there with her eyes shut, apparently asleep. There was something about this girl Finn recognized. It wasn't any one feature, but them as a whole that sent the gears in his head spinning away. She began to stir and her eyes fluttered open. Finn looked at her and she looked at him and he sat on the grass beside her. She smiled at him and grabbed his hand. However, when Finn looked at her with a puzzled look on his face, she withdrew her hand and looked at the ground. When their hands had touched, though, Finn's mind experienced a surge of memories, little captures from whole experiences. He saw giant robots, explosions, ships, and destruction. But he also saw laughter, this girl, he knew her scent, he knew the texture of her hair, and the taste of her lips. 

          Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently and pieces began falling out of the cliff face. They both stared in a confused awe at the sight before them. The ground beneath them collapsed and they began to tumble down towards the ocean. Finn grabbed onto the girl's hand and pulled her closer to him. Images, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures flooded into his mind again. They continued tumbling down towards the ocean, which was so deep a hue of blue that it grew black as they approached it. Memories continued to flood into Finn's mind. He now remembered full events, entire conversations. Finally they plunged into the icy water, so forcefully that it tore the two of them apart.

**Reality?**

          "Saotome, you ok?" Finn heard someone ask. 

          "Don't worry, he probably saw Yumi walk by or something. He's fine," answered another.

          "What the?" Finn rubbed his eyes. 

          "Yeah, Misato's coffee does the same thing to me too," Kazuya said, looking into his coffee mug. "That's why I always stop on the way to grab a cup."

          "What's going on?" asked Finn.

          "Hmm, this is worse than I thought," Kazuya. "Wait right here, I'll be back in a sec," he got up and left. Nakajima picked the stone up off the floor and dropped it back into its box. Finn sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling fans.

          "You alright?" Nakajima asked, slapping Finn on the back.

          "I was until a second ago," Finn replied, rubbing the sore spot on his back. "What happened?"

          "You just kind of froze there for a sec, like an old hockey player before the helmet rule," Nakajima said. "The coffee really that bad?" However, before Finn could utter a reply, Kazuya came back with a mug of some hideous and foul smelling concoction.

          "Drink up, it'll make you feel better," he said, putting the mug down on Finn's desk.

          ""Dare I ask what it is?" Finn asked, looking at the bubbling black mixture.

          "You don't want to know, just drink it. It'll clear your head. Hey, if it works for me it should work for you,"" Kazuya said. 

          Finn looked at the liquid. Finally, after the staring contest was over, he picked the mug up and took the tiniest sip possible. 

          "No no, not like that," Kazuya said and he opened Finn's mouth and dumped the mixture down his throat. "You have to take it all at once," Finn sat there, his eyes faded.

          "Is it supposed to do that?" Nakajima asked.

          "Yeah, give it a minute."

          "What was in that anyway?"

          "Artificial sweetener, Tabasco sauce, powdered jalapenos, coke, windex, ketchup, and the leftover grinds in the coffee filter. I have one of these every morning if I have a hangover."

          "Won't that kill him?"

          "Nah, he'll be fine," Kazuya took a mister bottle and sprayed Finn's face with it. "Wakey wakey."

          "Eagh," was the noise that escaped Finn's throat.

          A few minutes pass.

          "I was only trying to help you, dude!" came Kazuya's muffled voice from inside a garbage can. Finn dusted his hands and returned to his desk where he went about his usual business.

          "I'm home!" came Yumi's voice as she walked in the door to the apartment. "Finn, you home?" she asked when there was no reply. She found him at the computer, working away. "Who're you tracking down this time?"

          "Wha? Oh, hey. Just surfing," Finn said.

          "What's this?" Yumi asked, picking up a pad of paper with pages and pages of notes scribbled on it. It read 'Nadesico, Ruri, Captain Yurika, Cook Akito, aestivalis, frame, gravity blast,' and on and on. After a few pages it was just the name 'Ryoko' scribbled over and over again. "What is this?"

          "Wish I knew," Finn said to himself. 

          "Are you being weird again?" 

          "This name has been driving me nuts all day," Finn explained. There was a box of old police notes beside him. "I've been trying to find out where I've heard it. You wouldn't happen to recognize it, would you?"

          "Never met anyone by the name of Ryoko," Yumi said. The phone rang. "I got it," she said and picked the phone up. "Hello? Yes he is, just a moment," she covered the receiver with her hand. "Finn, it's for you."

          "Hello?" Finn asked as he picked up the phone. "Yes, I'm Saotome," 

          The conversation didn't last long. "What is it?" Yumi asked when he finally put the receiver down. 

          "That was the UF Mars office, they want me for some recovery operation," Finn answered, sounding somewhat puzzled himself. 

"What exactly does that mean?" asked Yumi.

"Beats me, they didn't say." he grabbed his coat and made his way to the door. "I've got to meet them at the precinct in a few minutes, so I'm off. See ya."

"Saotome, there you are. Where have you been?" the Chief demanded when Finn finally got to the precinct.

"Sorry, they didn't exactly give me a lot of time," Finn said. The sun was beginning to set and the air was warm. "So what exactly do they need us for?"

"Not us, Saotome. Just you. I was only told to make sure you got here, that's all."

"I feel so special."  

"You're ride's over there," the Chief motioned to a large military car in the precinct's parking lot. "Good luck."

"Roger that, sir," Finn gave a mock salute.

"I'm begging you, please don't screw this up." 

"Thanks Chief," Finn made his way to the dark military car. The windows were all tinted and the engine was still running.

"Detective Saotome," a man said, getting out of the car and saluting him. "We've been expecting you. I am Colonel Tokai, United Forces, Mars division."

"So what's going on? What does G.I. Joe want from little ol' me" asked Finn.

"I'll explain on the way," Colonel Tokai said.

"Just where are we going?" Finn asked as he climbed into the backseat. 

"We're going to the Utopia Colony security branch, where we will then take a helicopter to Mars headquarters, and then to an undisclosed location," Colonel Tokai replied. "From this moment forward you are not to inform anyone of what you may see, is that understood?"

"Right," Finn said, not sounding particularly interested.

"I would like to start off by thanking you for your assistance in recovering the stolen minerals from our labs and the capture of the culprit," Colonel Tokai said. 

"No biggie. I take it this has something to do with the rock inside the box?" 

"That is correct. We understand that officer Nakajima was in charge of the recovery, he has already been told to remain silent about this matter. To be honest, Detective, we are in serious need of your services. Several months ago, excavation of Mars' south pole began. Ground sonar scans showed interesting mineral deposits under the ice cap. We had several core samples brought up and upon analysis we made a remarkable discovery. No known substance exhibits the properties it has."

"And just what might these properties include?" asked Finn.

"I can't tell you at this time. However, all will be explained to you in due course. If I may continue? This mineral, codenamed novalite, exhibits extraordinary properties. However, several days ago, someone broke into the civilian labs we had sent samples to for analysis and stole the samples. You assisted in the recovery of one of three samples given to these labs. What we need you to do now is help us locate the two missing samples. You must understand that time is of the essence here and they must be located as soon as possible," Colonel Tokai explained. 

"So how long are we talking?" 

"How ever long it takes."

"That's what I love about you army guys, always a straightforward answer," Finn sweatdropped. 

They continued in silence for a while. Finn rested his head against the dark window and watched the sky grow progressively darker. When they finally arrived at the Utopia Colony station, they were escorted to an awaiting helicopter.

"Detective, wake up, we've arrived," Colonel Tokai kicked Finn lightly in the shins.

"Pizza with extra chocolate sauce, please," Finn mumbled in his drowsy state. "Alright, what planet am I on now?"

"I would appreciate it if you took this matter with a certain degree of seriousness, Detective. This is a potentially dangerous situation we're in, which means we have no time to waste, understood?" Colonel Tokai said.

"Right, can I at least call my girlfriend and tell her I won't be home tonight then?" Finn asked with a yawn. The Colonel tossed him a cell phone. 

"Make it quick."

"Gotcha," Finn dialled the number. "Hey, it's me. Look, I'm not going to be home tonight, we've got something big here," there was a pause for a moment. "I don't know when, but it shouldn't be all that long. I just called to let you know I haven't been abducted for military experimentation. Alright, see ya," he folded the two parts of the phone back together and handed it back to the Colonel. 

"Anything I should know before you take off?" asked Finn. The Colonel looked at him. "I heard the chopper pilot say he was dropping you off somewhere else." The Colonel looked at him suspiciously. "Hey, I can't help it; it's my job to notice these things,

"Yes, I see," the Colonel cleared his throat. "From this moment forward you are to have no communication other than personnel who are involved with this operation. We request that you work as quickly as possible , I cannot stress it enough that time is of the essence."

"So just where are we anyway?"

"Mars, South Pole."

**In The Navy!**

          "This is our research station at Mars' south pole," the Colonel explained. "From this point on you will be working under the command of Admiral Munetake. That is all," he gave a salute and left, leaving Finn standing around wondering where he could even sneeze without setting off some kind of alarm.

          "Detective Saotome," came an annoying voice. "We've been expecting you. What took you so long?"

          "Eh?" was the sound that escaped Finn's throat as he turned around to face this person. He found a rather short man with nose that looked like a ski slope and a haircut that made him looking like some species of mushroom, or other variety of fungus. However, he was dressed in an admiral's uniform, so Finn swallowed the snickers that were bubbling in his throat. "Right, Saotome here. So what's up?" a gust of wind blasted them, Finn struggled to keep his footing. 

          "I just that you have been instructed that this operation is classified as top-secret and that you are, under no circumstances, to repeat or recount anything that you may see or hear while under our command. Is that clear?"

          'Dang, that's a huge nose,' thought Finn. "Yeah, I've heard about that already. Now how about filling me in as to what exactly I'm supposed to be doing here? That's usually a good start," another gust of icy wind blasted them and Finn suddenly realized that it was cold, really cold.

          "Come this way," the Admiral mushroom said and led Finn inside the facility.

          "Gah!" Finn smashed his head on the low doorframe. 

          "Yes, watch the doors. This place wasn't designed for people like you," the Admiral said.

          "That's a great comfort," Finn muttered. 

          The Admiral led Finn down a series of corridors and finally into a large conference room. Seated around the massive table, which had a holo-projector positioned in its centre, were military officers of every rank, ranging from pilots to generals, people whom Finn presumed to be scientists of some sort.

          "This is Detective Saotome of the Utopia Colony police, as requested," Munetake said and pushed Finn into an empty chair. 

          "Thank you, Admiral," said a man at one end of the massive table. He looked somewhat familiar to Finn, that strange feeling he'd been having all day became noticeable. "Now, you are all probably wondering why you're here, some more than others," everyone looked at Finn.

          'Why do I get the feeling they're picking on me?' he thought.

          "Three days ago at approximately 0300hrs, several pieces of military property were stolen from civilian labs, a mineral called novalite to be specific. This substance was retrieved from core samples we have dug up through the icecap. The sites are shown here," a hologram of Mars with three red arrows pointing at its surface appeared. "the novalite was stolen from labs in these colonies at the same time, which leads us to believe this is a coordinated and very well organized group we're dealing with."

          "Hey," Finn whistled and raised his hand. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Hey, sorry for interrupting. But can I ask one question here?"

          "Detective Saotome, I'm not surprised," the Commander at the end of the table muttered. "What is it?" he asked irritably.

          "If this stuff is so secret, why did you send it to civilian labs?" There was a hushed sound of a collective agreement with Finn's question.

          "Fair enough," the Commander said, looking around the table. "The labs we sent samples of novalite because we didn't wish to arouse suspicion. There have been security leaks lately, which means if we sent the samples to military facilities, someone might get a little too interested. But, since we often do business with civilian facilities, we thought this would prevent anyone not connected with the operation from becoming terribly interested. Now, moving on. Two of the samples were retrieved, one from the Utopia Colony and one from New Wellington. However, the samples stolen from the facilities in Iacon were not recovered. We presume that someone within the military leaked information to terrorist groups descended from the Lunar dissidents that were expelled from the Moon over a century ago. It is believed that they wish to use the novalite to enhance operations. The translocation of matter and gravitron concentration properties contained within the novalite could be used in combination for strikes against us and the colonies. I don't have to tell you what kind of devastation being able to translocate a gravitron bomb anywhere could cause. Which brings me to why you are all here. All of you are critical in recovering the stolen novalite. Every available resource and all relevant information will be at your disposal. Saotome?"

          "Hmm?" Finn asked, looking up from his notepad, in which he had been scribbling something.

          "You seem to be taking quite an interest in this operation. You are in charge of collection and interpretation of forensic all forensic evidence recovered."

          "Right," Finn scribbled down a few more notes before returning the notepad to the pocket of his coat. 'Much too educational.' 

          "You are to start immediately. It is crucial that the novalite be retrieved and the culprits found. You are all dismissed," the Commander rose from his seat and exited via a door built into the wall at the far side of the room. The rest of the room got up and filed out the main entrance, leaving Finn wondering what exactly whit it was he was supposed to be doing. When the room was empty, with Finn being the exception, the lights returned to normal intensity. 

          "Lights are on, but no body's home," Finn muttered and spun around a few times in his chair. 

          "Detective?" came a voice.

          "Wha??" Finn looked up and found the Admiral standing not too far away. 

          "You have your orders, I suggest you get working," the Admiral said. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving!"

          "Whatever you say," Finn got up and left the room. "Toadstool," he added quietly. 

          Outside was a maze of corridors; some wide enough for a bus to roll down the middle of, others so narrow it was almost impossible for two people to pass each other. Finally, after two hours of aimlessly wandering around, Finn found himself in front of a direction map. 

          "What the?" came a voice from behind him.

          "Oh great, what now?" Finn mumbled as he examined the map.

          "Don't move," the voice said. Finn heard the click of a gun's safety being turned off. "Put your hands in the air." Finn rolled his eyes and complied. "Now turn around, slowly."

          "Alright," Finn turned to face his confronter. It turned out to be a girl, looking about twenty or so, in a pilot's uniform. She had dark hair, almost blue in tint, to her shoulders and held the gun level with Finn's forehead.

          "Who are you?" the girl asked, interrupting Finn's train of thought.

          "Uh…Detective Saotome, Utopia Colony police," he fumbled for words. 'It's her, it's got to be,'  "May I inquire as to who you are?"

          "I'll ask the questions here," the girl said, still holding the gun. "What are you doing here? This area's off limits to civilians,"

          "They brought me here to work on some missing rock case," Finn answered. "And if you know where I'm supposed to be in this mind-boggling labyrinth, please tell me, I don't have a clue." 

          "Alright," the girl returned the gun to its holster, she still eyed him suspiciously though. "You must be working on the novalite situation. You're supposed to be sub-section A of the MP wing. I'll show you the way. Come on." She began walking down the corridor to the right before he could even begin to utter a word of thanks. "Hurry up!" 

          "Right," Finn followed her and they began to make their way through the twisting corridors. "Gah!" he grunted as he bashed his head on another low hanging doorway. "That's the fifteenth time today."

          "So what exactly is your job here? I didn't think they were bringing in any cops for a military investigation," the girl asked.

          "I work in forensics," Finn said "I look for the one-hair-out-of-place kind of stuff, among other things. They want me to look for any patterns in the thefts to predict who might have stolen the rocks, matching footprints, bla bla bla. It just goes on." 

          "Sounds exciting," the girl said with a noticeable hint of sarcasm. They were still in the narrow passageways, but traffic was beginning to pick up. 

          " 'Scuse me," a green haired girl said as she pushed her way past. Finn only caught a fleeting glance of her face as she pushed her way through, but their eyes locked for a split second, and that was enough to cause both of them to stop dead in their tracks. They both stared at one another with puzzled expressions. 

          "Come on Saotome!" the blue-haired girl boomed. "I don't have all day."

          "Alright, alright," Finn's body began moving in the direction of the girl, who was a fair distance down the corridor at this point, but his eyes remained locked on the green haired girl. There was a sudden clang of something hard striking a steel doorway. "That's number sixteen," the green haired girl stood and watched him disappear down the corridor, until he finally vanished behind a corner and continued on her way. "Excuse me, miss…?"

          "Second-Lieutenant Kanzaki ," Finn's guide said. 

          "Right, who was that girl back there?"

          "That was pilot Subaru. I'd keep your distance though, she's more likely to kill you than kiss you," Kanzaki said. "I wouldn't think about that kind of stuff around here, if I were you."

          "No no, it wasn't that, it's just…she looked familiar, that's all. Just out of curiosity, what's her first name?"

          "Ryoko," Kanzaki said. "I'd doubt that you've seen her. You were probably thinking of someone else."

          "Must be," Finn lied. He knew that was the girl that he had seen earlier that day when he touched the fragment of novalite. There was no mistaking it. 'The hair, the eyes, the face, hell, even the figure's the same,' he thought. 

          They continued on in silence for some while until Kanzaki finally led him into a large, open hallways where people in white lab coats scurried and soldiers with bands on their arms that read MP on them stood motionless at every corner. Kanzaki opened a door and pretty much booted Finn inside, where several other specialists in his field were busy at computer terminals. He found a binder bearing his name and found instructions as to just what exactly he was to look for. It said that all relevant information was stored in his terminal.

          "And here he is at last, the great Saotome from Utopia Colony," one of the three men said, glancing up from his computer screen. "Where've you been anyway?

          "Just out for a walk," Finn yawned and glanced at his watch, which read four o'clock in the morning. But who knew what time it was in whatever time zone they were in now. "And who might you be?" he asked as he sat down and logged into his computer. 

          "Name's Ginza," the man said and they shook hands. "I'm from the Metroplex Colony," 

          "Alright. So what's the sitch? Found anything yet?" Finn asked as he began to go through the reports and other various papers relevant to the case on his computer. 

          "You were at the briefing, right? So you know all the break-ins happened at the same time. So it's painfully clear that this is a very well organized operation. Unfortunately both the suspects who were apprehended killed themselves before we could question them. In Utopia and New Wellington they managed to get a few preliminary questions asked, but not much more than that," Ginza said. "The transcripts are on your box."

          "Yes," Finn said, scanning through the reports. "I see. Well, since they killed themselves so soon after they were arrested, it leads me to believe that we're dealing with some pretty fanatical extremists. What was the whole 'lunar dissident' thing G.I. Joe was talking about in the briefing? I haven't heard anything about that."

          "That's the first thing I looked for when I got here," Ginza said. "Apparently there was some kind hardcore extremist group back on Earth a while back, say… a little over a century ago. Anyway, the UF rounded up all the members of this militant group and was prepared to execute them, but there was a little public sympathy for these guys. So the UF gave them an ultimatum, which was basically 'leave the Earth and never come back, or we'll kill you'. Surprisingly enough, the group agreed to leave and, a year later, they were gone, and had resettled on Mars. Problem is, when the UF began plans to colonize Mars, they dropped a couple of nukes to destroy whatever civilization the extremists had built. I guess they missed a few or something."

          "It's not like the military to be so honest," Finn said. "Every other time I've had to work with the UF I was hard pressed to get a name out of them."

          "Remember," the Admiral said, coming out of a shadowy corner. "You are all going to be subject to heavy surveillance when this operation is over, so it would be a good idea to keep your mouths shut, should you be allowed to leave, that is," the Admiral then left them in the dim light of the lab.

          "Toadstool," Finn said and began his work. 

          The next few days were spent digging through the gigs and gigs of reports, crime scene pictures, and whatever piece of evidence the three of them could find. 

          "And I'm spent," Finn lay in his chair staring at the ceiling, a dozen text files open on his computer. "I'm going to get something to eat, either of you coming?" there was no response. When he looked around him, his two companions were snoring away. 

          Finn left them and found his way to the cafeteria, after only getting lost once and bashing his head on two doorways, which was an improvement to the six concussions he had suffered the previous day. Being lunchtime in the time zone they were in, the cafeteria was packed. Finn fought to simply keep his place in line, much less grab a sandwich and a can of pop from the vending machines. Next came the challenge of finding a seat in the already overcrowded mess hall. After about ten minutes of pushing his way through the walls of people that formed around each table, he finally found a vacant area in which to eat. It was a large table with only one other occupant, Ryoko. Finn, however, didn't notice until he had sat down. It felt awkward, being so close to this girl again. Around them, the room became quiet and every set of eyes looked at Finn in shock. For the most part, both of them ate in silence. Finn shrugged off everyone's stare and Ryoko finished her meal and sat with her arms crossed. When Finn had finished the sawdust they were passing off as a roast beef sandwich he sat and examined her with his trained eye. 

          "Had a good enough look at me?" Ryoko asked quietly after a few minutes. Finn didn't seem particularly surprised by this.

          "I should ask you the same thing," Finn replied, having noticed her inspection of him. 

          Ryoko then rose suddenly. "Follow me," she said, and left. Finn waited a moment before getting up and following her. He stayed a few meters behind her, as to avoid suspicion. En route he snuck into one of the evidence rooms and stuffed a small bag into his pocket.

"Security's slack," he said to himself, but being the South Pole of Mars, it's not like there was anywhere for a would be thief to run, but it still surprised him nonetheless. He caught up to Ryoko and they soon found themselves outside in the cold of the pole.

**Sky High**

          "I don't suppose I have to introduce myself," Ryoko said with her back turned to Finn. It was cold, really cold. The smallest sliver of sun could be seen poking out of the dark horizon, which provided limited illumination.

          "I don't think that's necessary, Ryoko," Finn said. There was no one else outside. Their only company was a land-frame aestivalis, which was sitting by a launch pad a few hundred meters away. There was an awkward silence. Neither of them seemed quite sure what to say. 

          "Can you blame them?" the author said. Ryoko grabbed the author by the collar and tossed him into a snow bank. "I'll be good," came a muffled voice. 

          "Let me ask you something," Finn said, resting his back on the cold cement wall of the base in an attempt to get out of the howling wind. "When you woke a few days ago, did you feel as though you had just woken up after being decked in the head with a shovel?"

          "That's pretty blunt," Ryoko smirked.

          "It's my job to ask questions," Finn said simply. Even though everyone on the base avoided Ryoko and shrank into the walls whenever she approached, Finn didn't feel all that intimidated by her. 

          "Look, I'm just going to get it out here. Who the hell are you?" Ryoko said, turning around. "Yes, when I woke up this morning I felt as though someone had bashed me over the head with a shovel."

          "And you didn't know exactly who or where you were," Finn finished. "You had the feeling that you were supposed to be somewhere else and that this all looked like some crazy dream."

          "That's putting it lightly, Saotome," she replied. "It was like waking up after an all night bender. At first I thought it was just some kind of stupid dream that I had just come out and could barely remember. So after a few minutes I just shrugged it off and went along as usual. But…" she trailed off. 

          "Then I come along," Finn finished for her.

          "And then I freeze the way a cow would looking at an oncoming train. It all comes back."

          "Tell me, you didn't happen too…" Finn stopped as a loud siren suddenly started up. 

          "What the hell?" Ryoko asked, running out into the snow and looking up at the sky. "I don't see anything, we're not under attack." 

          Finn saw the blast doors around the entrance slide shut, locking them out. There was something being said over the intercom inside. He pressed his ear against the freezing metal shields that blocked the entrance. "Oh crap," he said quietly as all the pieces came together.

          "What's that idiot doing?" Ryoko asked, standing out in the middle of the snow. She saw Finn coming towards her in full sprint. He was shouting something, but she couldn't hear it over the alarms and the biting wind. "What are you babbling about?" she yelled at him, but the howling wind sucked the voice from her throat and threw it into the violent storm. 

          "Come on!" Finn shouted as he grabbed Ryoko's wrist and kept on running, dragging her along behind him as he ploughed forward through the knee-deep snow. 

          "What's the matter with you?" Ryoko demanded when Finn pushed her into the snow and threw himself on top of her. She quickly slipped out and grabbed him by the collar and pushed her knee into his chest. "You've got a lot of nerve…" she was cut short as a massive shock blew her off Finn and sent her sailing into the air. A deafening roar followed, along with a bright flash of light. Finn pressed himself as far into the snow as he could. He forced his hands through the frozen snowpack and used them as anchors, keeping himself pinned to the ground. The violent hiss of the storm was overpowered by the eruption that exploded out from the centre of the base. 

          When the tempest regained its domination over the landscape, Finn looked up from the snow. However, he quickly ducked into the impression he had made as a massive slab of partially melted steel crashed mere feet in front of him. He covered his head and endured the hailstorm of flying debris that raining down on him. Thousands of tiny projectiles dug into his back while others the size of cars fell all around him. When all had become quiet again, Finn remained hidden, trying to ignore the searing pain as molten particles embedded themselves in his exposed skin. It was not for some time that he was able to lift his head up and survey the devastation around him. The base, or what was left of it, lay in flames. Scattered around him were pieces of crumbling concrete and melting steel. Heat radiated from the slag, driving the biting cold away and burning Finn's skin. He fell in the snow, where it was quiet and stared up at the black sky, the sun having disappeared behind the mountains that lay to the north. 

          He was fully prepared to slip into the soothing sleep that was beginning to creep over him, but something stopped him. Something told him to fight it. He forced himself to sit up and look around him. Small fires from burning debris illuminated the area all around the ruined base. The roar of the fire consuming the base suddenly burst into Finn's ears and he fell back into the melting snow. He didn't know whether or not he should consider himself fortunate to be alive. However, before he could ponder the subject for long, something struck him.

          "Ryoko," he said, choking on the noxious fumes from the burning slag. He forced himself upright and looked about himself. Stumbling in the direction away from the base mere steps at a time and searched for her. He had crossed some hundred meters or so before he finally collapsed in the snow in defeat. There was something about this, this heat. He had felt it once before. His scattered memory searched in vain for the answer. Something brushed against Finn's hand, searing the skin with its heat. He lifted his head out of the snow and looked at the instrument of the sensation. It was not a piece of molten steel, or crumbling concrete. It was a hand, protruding out from under a piece of sheet metal. At first Finn stared in horror at the limb, but during such inspection, he noticed that it was not the removed piece that he first thought it to be. There was a wrist still connected, and the fingers twitched every so slightly. Finn hauled himself to his feet and pushed the scrap metal aside, searing the skin on his unprotected hands. When he had cleared enough of it, he began to dig. Clearing the snow away, he found Ryoko's mangled body. Her face was lacerated and bruised, and her uniform was torn and shredded, but she appeared to be in one piece. Finn pulled her from the snow and held her in his arms. There was still a pulse when he felt her wrist, but who knew how long that would last. However, he did not see or feel any rise or fall of her chest. She was not breathing. Finn laid her down in the snow, clamped her nose, and brought his mouth to hers, forcing air into her lungs. "Come on Ryoko. Don't do this to me," he said between breaths. "I'm not going to let you go, not after I've found you again." However, he wasn't making any headway. Her pulse began to grow faint, but he kept at it. "Damnit!" he cried in frustration and brought his hands down on her chest, his eyes shut and his face contorted by anguish. However, as he did so, Ryoko fell to a fit of violent coughing. Blood dripped from her lips and her eyes struggled to open. "Ryoko! Can you hear me?!" her lips moved in reply, but the roar of the burning building behind them overpowered her. Finn looked at her lips, attempting comprehend what she was trying to tell him. "What are you saying? I can't hear you." Not that he could hear himself. Instead, he concentrated on moving them away from the intense heat of the molten slag around them and the raging fire behind them. It wasn't until they had cleared several hundred meters that the noise and intense heat began to subside. The air was cool here, but not uncomfortably cold. "Can you here me now?" Finn asked as he set Ryoko down in the melting snow. She nodded her head weakly in reply. 

          "Saotome," she choked. 

          "Don't push yourself. Just rest for a while," Finn said.

          "No, listen to me," she said, weakly grabbing him by what was left of his collar. "The base…it's powered by a nuclear reactor," it was painfully obvious how difficult it was for Ryoko to utter these words. "If the fire punctures the core…"

          "We're both dead," Finn finished. "Is there any way to get clear? Could there be any trucks or jeeps still in one piece?" Ryoko shook her head and Finn's shoulders slumped slightly. "What about the aestivalis I saw by the launch pads? Would it still be operational?"

          "It might be," Ryoko coughed again, blood splattered onto Finn's singed face. 

          "Wait here, I'll go get it," Finn said and took off.

          "Wait!" Ryoko said hoarsely, but her words didn't reach him. 

          Finn struggled to find his way to the launch pad among the wreckage. He used his arms to guard his face against the intense heat and limped along, his shoes, which had once been freezing due to the cold of being exposed to the Antarctic winds, where now hot, the rubber soles were mushy as they began to melt. 

          Finally, Finn saw the aestivalis and he quickened his pace. The robot had been knocked over and thrown into a melting snow bank not far from its original location. There were crates and broken trucks scattered around it, their contents spilled onto the ground. Finn scaled the robot's leg, his hands burning in the intense heat of the armour. When he found the cockpit he punched the emergency hatch release and crawled inside. Surprisingly enough, the inside was only moderately warm, almost comfortable. Finn searched the dark cockpit for any kind of lights. He finally ended up punching a button that brought the main monitors online, which partially illuminated the cockpit. However, his heart sank when he saw the IFS console. Since he didn't have the nanomachine implant, there was no way he could pilot the massive machine a few steps, let along far enough away from the ticking time bomb of the base. For a few moments he sat in the warm pilot's seat and stared out in defeat. Ryoko was in no condition to be moved over to the robot, nor was she in any condition to pilot it. However, what choice was there? If he sat there and did nothing they would surely be destroyed. But Ryoko was in no condition to pilot the robot! 'There's no choice,' concluded Finn and, with great effort, pulled himself out of the cockpit and back outside. 

          He tried to slide down the aestivalis' armour, but ended up falling down into the slush that had once been a snow bank. Instead of going back the way he came, he moved between the broken trucks, using them as shields against the heat radiating out from the base. However, before he could get very far, his foot struck a case of military supplies and he crashed back into the snow. When he pulled himself up, he looked at the contents of the case, which had spilled out onto the snow. It was a medical kit of some kind. Quickly, he threw the scattered pieces of medical supplies back into the case, closed it up, and grabbed onto the handle. Along the way back he encountered similar cases and packed as many as he could under his arms. The journey back seemed like an impossible task, and the prospect of having to carry Ryoko all the way back was even more daunting. But Finn pressed on, lugging the supplies he had gathered along with him. However, before he even made it to what he thought to be the halfway mark, his strength gave out and he fall into the snow. The cases fell from his arms and spilt their contents in the snow. Finn lay face down, trying to recover his breath in the noxious fumes from the wreckage. After a few minutes, he painfully brought himself to his knees and began gathering the supplies. One object in particular struck his interest. It looked like a gun, only with some kind of needle at the end of the barrel. Finn stared at the object with great curiosity for some time before realizing what it was.

"Idiot," Ryoko coughed again. She knew there was no way Finn could bring the aesti over, not without the implant, and she was in no shape to pilot it herself. There was a great shudder, which she assumed to be the base's reactor beginning to go critical. There was a slight pause before there was another shudder, louder this time, more intense. Another shudder followed, each one seemed closer than the one before. She could feel the ground tremble again and closed her eyes. 'At least you put up a good fight,' she thought, seeing Finn carry her away from the base in her mind. 

          "Come on," came a voice.

          "What? No tunnel?" Ryoko asked aloud.

          "Not today," said the voice. She opened her eyes when she felt herself being lifted up. "Come on," Finn said again as he pulled Ryoko up the aesti's arm and laid her down inside the cockpit. He pulled himself inside and placed his hand on the interface. Even though piloting the aesti was new to him, he felt some strange comfort in the experience. 

          He ran as fast as the aesti could go, the light of the base was still visible when they had travelled some way from it. 

          "This…" Ryoko tried to say.

          "Don't talk, save your strength," Finn said. He had the atmosphere controls set to as cold as they could go and even though the temperature was hovering around zero C, he could still feel the heat blasting at him. 

          "No, listen…" Ryoko said. "We're not going fast enough,"

          "How do I use the treads?" Finn asked, remembering the tank treads built into the aesti's feet. 

          "No, not fast enough," Ryoko said. "Use the boosters."

          "How do I do that?" asked Finn, testing out what he thought might work. 

          "Jump," Ryoko said. "As high as you can," Finn leapt off with one foot and landed on the other a moment later. "No, use the wings. Imagine you have wings," Ryoko said weakly. Finn tried again, this time soaring into the air and landing a good distance away. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryoko being thrown around by the forces of such action. He brought the robot to a stop. "What are you doing?" she asked when she felt Finn lifting her up. He didn't answer and he lowered her into the seat. "We've got to move," 

          "Don't say anything. Save your strength," Finn said, fastening the seat's restraints around her. "You've got enough bruises,"

          "That's putting it mildly," Ryoko replied hoarsely, her voice beginning to fail her. She felt the sleep beginning to creep back over her. 

          "Don't fall asleep on me," Finn said, digging around a few of the cases he had managed to salvage. "Here, drink this," he pressed a bottle of water gently to her lips. She drank as much as her throat could bear, and Finn finished the rest. "Don't worry, there's more where that came from," he then took the controls again and began to leap his way across Mars' Antarctic.

**Coming Home**

          "Still with me there?" Ryoko heard Finn asked after quite some time had passed. She must have drifted into a light sleep.

          "Where are we going?" she asked when she opened her eyes. 

          "The closest colony," Finn replied. He sounded tired, but he tried not to show it. "The Utopia Colony's not far away. I just hope we can make it, the battery's beginning to run low," he glanced over his shoulder at her. Even though she was horribly battered, bruised, and, in some places, burnt, she looked a little better. During this quick glance, she noticed a long stream of dried blood down Finn's face. "A little present the base gave me when it blew," he said, noticing her looking at him. 

          "How much further?" she asked.

          "It should be another hour or two, I just hope the battery can last that long. You can get some sleep if you want to, just promise you won't die on me."

          They continued onward in silence. Even though the temperature inside the cockpit was still hovering around zero C, they could still feel the raging fire as though the flames were still licking their faces. Finn felt as though he were stuck between realities. On the one hand, he could remember his entire life, as he knew it. He remembered his childhood, going to school, studying for university exams, all it. But on the other hand, he felt like pieces of mirror were beginning to shatter and drop to the floor one piece at a time, letting him see through the mirror that reflected himself and into the other side. He could see Akito and Yurika standing on the bridge of a ship, surrounded by people he knew but couldn't put names to yet. 'Nothing's wrong with me,' he concluded. 'There's something wrong with reality.'

          "Hey, Ryoko," Finn gently nudged her. "Wake up, we're almost there," the jets had given out a long time ago, and the tank treads had been worn down to tin foil, so the aestivalis was moving on foot. "There's a hospital in the south district, not far into the colony, we'll set down there. Just one more hill to climb," Ryoko opened her eyes and stared out the main monitor. When her eyes finally decided to focus, she could see the sun beginning to rise to their left and the sky was a bright blend of ever brightening colour. She could just catch the tops of buildings over the ridge of the hill. However, she did not see the bustling city she had expected. Finn came to a halt when they stood at the hill's summit. Everything was black. All but a few buildings had been reduced to piles of crumbling rubble. Finn couldn't speak. The part of him from this world stared in disbelief at what he saw. The other part of him shook his head grimly. It wasn't until a fit of coughing overtook Ryoko that Finn was brought back to the reality before him. He burst into a full run and skidded down the hill's slope before he ran into the outskirts of the ruined colony. The giant metal feet of the aestivalis made shallow impressions in the paved roads as he tore down them. 

          "Warning, power reserves 98% depleted," the computer beeped at him. The battery finally died as they skidded to a stop outside what was left of a recreation centre. It was one of the few buildings still standing, and he could see lights on inside, coming through the broken windows. Finn popped the hatch open and lifted Ryoko out as gently as he could. As he limped closer to the building, he could see people camped out on the steps. They watched as Finn laboriously hauled himself and Ryoko up the steps and through the openings where doors once were. Inside was a mess of people down on blankets. There were faint cries and moans of the wounded as Finn walked further in. Someone came up to Finn and took Ryoko from him.

          "I've got another one!" the man said. "Where'd you come from?" he asked Finn.

          "What do you mean?" Finn asked weakly. "Just help her."

          "I'm sorry," a woman said, coming up to Finn. "They've been pouring in since this morning. Treat those burns first," she instructed the man who then took Ryoko away.

          "What happened here?" Finn asked, resting his back against a fractured wall. 

          "We don't know. It was like a bomb going off. I remember hearing this rumbling noise before my house collapsed on me," the woman said. "We've set up a kind of hospital here, since the hospital itself was levelled. Where did you come from? We haven't seen injuries like those of your young lady before, were you downtown when this happened?"

          "Not exactly," Finn said, glancing through the doorway at the aestivalis laying the middle of the street. A few people were looking at it and some kids had climbed onto the leg while others threw a ball against the armoured chest. "Ryoko, the girl I brought in, can you help her?" 

          "We'll try. A few ambulances survived and we've brought all their supplies in here. It's not much, but its all we've got," the woman said. 

          "Saotome!" came a familiar voice. "Thank God, we thought you were at home when that thing went off," Akito said, coming up to Finn. He looked relatively alright. His clothes were torn and covered in dust and his face was cut in one or two places, but he seemed to be in one piece. "Where've you been?"

          "Hell and back," Finn said quietly.

          "What?" Akito asked, confused.

          "Never mind that. Are Yurika and Ruri alright?" 

          "Yeah, they're both fine. Where's Yumi? I saw you bringing someone in, was that her?" Akito asked.

          "Yumi?" Finn asked. Suddenly, it all came back to him. "You mean Yumi isn't here?"

          "No, I thought she'd be with you, I went and checked the apartment but…"

          "Oh no," Finn interrupted and he burst off the wall and flew down the steps and into the street. He spotted someone with a motorbike sitting at the base of the building. His left leg seared with pain, but he forced it out of his mind.

          "Finn! What are you doing?" Akito asked, coming down the steps.

          "I'll be right back," Finn said and he grabbed the bike. "I'll bring it back," he said, grabbing the keys from the owner's hand, and he took off down the street in the direction of his apartment. Akito grabbed a bicycle and slowly followed. 

          Finn's path was blocked before he could get very far. He ditched the bike and proceeded on foot. The apartment wasn't that much further and Finn stumbled and tripped his way along through the rubble. When he cleared the debris field he hobbled along the street. Most of the buildings had collapsed into heaps of broken timber and brick. However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he rounded the corner and saw what was left of his home. The building had been knocked clean off its foundations and lay toppled across several streets. There were bits brick and pieces of personal items scattered everywhere. Off in the distance, Finn could see smoke from several fires that were raging out of control. He grabbed onto the broken stump of a streetlight and kept himself upright.

          "Saotome!" Akito ran up to Finn.

          "Akito, tell me. Are there any other shelters close by?" Finn asked in a quiet voice. 

          "I'm afraid not," his friend replied grimly.

          "When did this happen?"

          "About 1 in the morning," Aktio answered. 

          "So they got here too," Finn said to himself.

          "Where were you when this happened? I'd have thought you'd be with Yumi." 

          "I was doing some work for the military," Finn replied, still staring at the building that lay in ruin.

          "I guess that explains the robot," Akito said.

          "The same thing happened at the Pole," Finn continued. "The Antarctic station's been levelled. Who knows how many more colonies were destroyed. Are any communication systems still up?"

          "I don't know," Akito replied. "I've been digging through rubble all morning looking for survivors,"

          "Have you searched through this yet?"

          "No, not yet."

          "Why not?" Finn demanded.

          "We started to, but the gas line's been ruptured. One spark and the whole thing could ignite."

          "And you're sure there are no other shelters nearby?"

          "I'm sorry," Akito said. "But hey, don't give up hope yet. Maybe she wasn't inside when this happened. She might still be out there somewhere," Finn took a few steps forward, but Akito stopped him. "Sorry, but you're in no shape to go climbing through that mess. First, let's get you patched up."

          Finn pushed past him and limped his way forward. He could feel the wounds on his left leg open and close with each movement, a small trickle of blood slowly snaked its way down. However, Akito, again, grabbed him and pulled him back. "Let me go, Tenkawa. I mean it."

          "You're not going anywhere," Akito said, firming his grip on Finn's Finn's wrist. 

"She's not dead," Finn grabbed Akito by the collar. "I'm going to find her."

"Look, I know you're worried about Yumi, but if she was in there, she's dead. There's pieces of that building scattered over three blocks!" Akito said, pushing himself out of Finn's grasp. "I'm not saying you should give up hope just yet, but think about it!" Finn looked at the ground and at the small pool of blood that had collected around his ankles. "I'll go around and see if I can find any other shelters, maybe she found one of them." Finn turned around to look again at the remains of what used to be his home. "Don't even think about it," Akito said, sensing that Finn was about to make another go at searching through the remains. "I'm worried about her too, but until we can turn off the gas there's not much either of us can do."

"You can't understand," Finn said. "You just can understand!"

"Listen to me! What if she was in there and somehow managed to survive. Would you run the risk of barbequing her? The safest way is to just leave it alone for now. I'll make sure this is the next building checked, I promise. Now come on," Akito used himself as a crutch, taking the weight off Finn's injured ankle. 

It was some time before they finally crossed the debris field and back to their bikes and had returned to the shelter.

"Did you find her?" Yurika asked when Akito emerged from the building after having made sure Finn was being treated. He shook his head and told her what Finn had said about the military. "How's he doing?"

"I think he's in shock. When I left him he took a pen out of his pocket and was scribbling something on the wall," Akito said.

"Hold still!" one of the volunteer nurses said, dabbing Finn's gashed leg with a disinfectant. "You don't want this to get infected, and it's already dirty enough. Does it hurt that bad?"

"What?" Finn asked, looking away from his scribbles on the wall, apparently oblivious to what was going on around him. "Look, don't waste the bandages on me. You've got enough people to put back together without me taking up valuable space."

"We've got enough, now stop doodling and let me have a look your head," the nurse brushed Finn's singed hair aside and examined his forehead. "I guess it's true."

"What's true?" asked Finn.

"Pilots' heads are made of granite." 

"What do you mean? I'm not a pilot, I'm a cop," Finn said, backing out of the nurse's grasp. "What made you think that?"

"Doesn't take a rocket scientist," she said and looked at Finn's hand. 

"Look, I feel fine. Can I get back to work?"

"You're done, you can go back to your doodles now. But don't even think about running away. Mr. Tenkawa said to keep an eye on you," the nurse moved on to the next person and Finn turned back to the wall and his scribbles.

"How goes it?" Akito said, sitting down beside Finn after a long time had passed.

"I'm going with you when you start searching what's left of the apartment," Finn said. By now he had acquired some paper and had sheets spread around him. "You said the blast erupted from the downtown area, right?" 

"Yeah, but, what is this?" Akito picked up a few sheets of paper and looked through the dozens of calculations scribbled on them.

"I've been working on figuring out where exactly my apartment would have landed. I've worked out the blast intensity and factored it into the trig equations. It should have landed where the drug store was across the street," Finn said, still scribbling away. 

"I thought you hated math?" 

"I do, doesn't mean I suck at it," Finn said.

"So if you've figured out where the apartment landed, what are you still working on?" Akito asked, question marks floated around his head.

"How much of it they used. When are you going to start?"

"I was just on my way to dig out the supply room at the hospital. We need more stuff to treat your burnt friend," Akito said.

"How's she doing?" asked Finn, putting down his pen.

"I…er…"

"That bad?"

"Afraid so," Akito said. However, before he could inquire as to what had actually transpired at the Pole, Finn got up and tacked ten or twelve sheets of paper to the wall. The papers combined to form a rough sketch of what happened to the Utopia Colony. He then tacked another set beside it, showing the base at the Pole. There was a large red X in the centre of each composition where the epicentre for each blast was.

"Damn bastards, right in the centre of the city. Didn't even have a chance. But how they got the stuff inside the Antarctic base…" Finn mumbled and stood a few feet back, examining the drawings.

"Uh…listen, Finn. You feeling alright?" Akito asked. 

"What do you mean?" Finn asked, still looking at the drawings.

"I would have thought you'd be more…" Akito searched for the right word. "concerned. You're acting weird. I mean, I know you've always been…you see…"

"Don't have time to be concerned right now," Finn said, sifting through the papers. "I don't think we have a lot of time."

Akito left him to his work and left to find Yurika and Ruri. 

"Is he doing any better?" Yurika asked when he finally found her outside filling bottles of water from a broken pipe.

"He's keeping busy, I'll give him that," Akito said, taking a long drink from one of the bottles. 

"What's he found out so far?"

"I'm not sure."

"But he's found something, right?"

"I think so, but he's not speaking. He knows something we don't."

"Doesn't he always?" Yurika smirked. "That's typical of him."

"How's Ruri?"

"She's alright. She just had a concussion from where she hit the arm of the chair. I'm just thankful it's nothing more than that," Yurika said. "Does Finn know what happened?"

"Tenkawa!" a voice called. "We're ready to go. We found a route through the sewers that comes out not far from the supply stores," 

"Alright," Akito got up and got into a beat up looking pickup truck, which carried him down the street.

**Big Dig**

          "Finn?" asked Yurika.

          "Hmm?" mumbled Finn, not even looking up from his work.

          "They're ready. Are you sure you're alright?"

          "Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he gathered up a few papers, rolled them up, and stuffed them into his pocket. "What time is it?"

          "It's half past noon," Yurika said, looking at her watch. "Look, are you sure you're feeling alright?"

          "Yes, Yurika. I'm fine. Just a couple of nicks and scratches," Finn said. 

          "I don't mean that way," Yurika said with noticeable concern in her voice. "You don't look like you're at all concerned about anything," she didn't want to go into any specifics. 'A freakin bomb just went off in the middle of town for crying out loud!' she thought. 

          "Sorry, Yurika, they're leaving," Finn said as he pushed by. His left leg had a tight length of bandage wrapped around it and he limped a little on it as he pushed his way through to the doors and outside. 

          Finn joined Akito outside and climbed into the back of the truck with the rest of the volunteers. He had managed to grab a small piece of chalk from the recreation centre's playroom and had stuffed it into his pocket. 

The truck took them around the debris field Finn had crossed earlier that day and down a few side streets. Most of the buildings had collapsed, falling away from the blast and across roads. The going was slow, as the truck slowly bumped and bounced its way over the crushed remains of houses from one section of clear road to another. Those houses that had remained standing stood eerily empty, the windows and doors blown out and the interior stripped. Finally, they made it to their destination and all ten of them hopped down out of the back of the truck and into the street. They were standing on the opposite side from where Finn had first seen what was left of his apartment building.

          "Is the gas off?" he asked Akito, the leader of the search party. 

          "Yeah, the main gas line for the colony is…er…was just west of the city. Some guys managed to close the main valve, so we don't have to worry about a barbeque," Akito replied. "Start with at where the top came down!" he called out to the group. "Ready…? What are you doing now?"

          Finn was on his knees with the chalk, drawing a rough sketch of what the building looked like. "Ok," he said, getting up. "We should do this room by room, starting with the bottom floors. They should have sustained less damage than the top floors and didn't fall quite as far,"

          Some of the rescuers had climbed into the debris field and were surveying the damage. "Yo! Tenkawa!" one of them called. "Found something over here!" everyone moved in that direction and converged on his location. The one who had called them over was busy tossing pieces of brick and aside. There was a leg sticking up through the rubble. The other rescuers began clearing the debris away, while Finn flipped between his notes and the area around him. When the building had come down, half of it smashed into the stores across the street while the other half crashed into street itself. Where they were digging now was between the destroyed stores and road. "Is he alive?" he asked when they had cleared the rubble away from the body. Akito shook his head and looked away from the sight. Finn continued onward towards the far corner of the demolished store, his eyes constantly flipping between the notes and his surroundings. He tried to visualize the building toppling over and crumbling under the immense shockwave of the blast. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Akito and the others calling out and listening for any calls for help. Finn was torn in two. It was just like before. One part of him told him to do one thing, while the other part told him to do something else! "Gah! Snap out of it man!" he slapped himself across the face and began sifting through the rubble. This was the spot. All his painstakingly determined calculations told him the apartment should be right here. Once he had cleared the small section of any concrete or brick fragments he could lift, he began to find things that looked familiar. There was a piece of a couch sandwiched between two slabs of concrete and personal things scattered about. He continued to clear as much as he could. His burnt fingers stung soon after and were quickly being worn raw by tossing bricks and blocks away. His mind began to wander and he thought about all he had been through this past day. He thought about Ryoko, and what he had said to her when he pulled her from the burning wreckage. "What am I doing?" he asked himself, frustrated. "I'm searching for what very well could be Yumi's body and I'm thinking about some girl I don't even know!" but even as he uttered these words, he knew them to be false. He pulled the fragment of novalite he had "borrowed" from the base and held it in his hand. Slowly, he felt himself slipping away from reality. His vision flipped between the ruins he had dug himself through to the windy cliff and back. However, before he could loose himself in that place again, he heard a thump. Finn bolted back up and felt his leg convulse in pain, but he bit his lip and looked around. There was another thump, it came from somewhere beside him, within the walls of rubble. Finn put the novalite back in his pocket and listened. There was another thump. Finn shuffled over to where the couch lay crushed between the two giant slabs. There was a small space where the arm of the couch had been torn off and he pushed his arm through it and felt around. It was at this time that Finn saw that the couch was actually upside down and that there was a space under it where the cushions should have been. His fingers connected with something wet and he hastily withdrew his arm; bright red streaks were painted across his hand. 

Quickly, he pushed his arm through again and found the source. It was a hand, but when he grabbed onto it, he could feel it squeeze back lightly. 

          "Tenkawa!" Finn called, climbing up into the sunlight. "Hey Akito! Over here! MOVE!" he jumped back into the ruins tried ripping the arm of the couch off, but it held fast. "Can you hear me in there?" he called into the hole. There was no response. "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand," he said, pushing his arm through the hole again. He found the hand grabbed onto it, but it didn't did not react to his touch. Finn tapped the side of the couch and something tapped back. 

          "Finn, we found something over here you might want to take a look at," Akito said, arriving at the edge of the small pit.

          "No time, I think I've got something," Finn said, listening for another tap.

          "Did you find her?" Akito asked as he jumped into the ruins, the others not far behind. 

          "Could be, we need to get under this couch somehow," Finn answered. 

          "We could try breaking it open," rescuer 1 said. (The author can't afford to pay extras with actual names; it's cheaper to just use labels) He held an axe in his hand and looked ready to use it. 

          "We'd be likely to do more damage to whoever's in there than to the couch," Akito said. 

          "We need to get this thing off," Finn said, putting his hand on the slab of concrete that lay on top of the couch. There was another weak tapping coming from underneath. "I'm open to suggestions, and you don't have to raise your hand."

          Akito looked around for any possible point of entry, but where they stood was the only part that wasn't buried beneath tonnes of broken concrete. "What about some kind of lever?"

          "Could work," Finn said, pulling himself up and looking at the rear of the slab. "Is there anything we can use?"

          "There was some rebar from a construction site not far away," rescuer 5 said. "I think it might work."

          "Go and get some," Finn said as there was another tap. "And hurry," 

          Five of the rescuers climbed out and made their way back to the road and then to the construction site, which was bare, with the exception of a foundation and building supplies scattered everywhere. They returned a few minutes later. Each of them grabbed a piece and jammed it between the slab and the solid blocks of concrete at the rear. 

          "Together now," Finn said, firming his grip. He forced all his weight into pushing the bar back, which would then push the slab off the couch and onto the ground.  

          "I think I felt it budge," Akito grunted after a few minutes, beads of sweat rolling down his face. 

          "That was my seventh hernia," Finn said, gritting his teeth.

          "That's it, I'm done," rescuer 4 said, falling back into the rubble. "I think I landed on my keys."

          "Come on guys…"

          "Wait a sec," Finn interrupted and dropped to the ground, taking heaving lungfuls of air. "Not one of your famous 'we can do it speeches', is it?" 

          "But if we all work together…"

          "Mindless effort won't get us anywhere, this isn't working. If it were going to work we could have made some headway by now, so far we have yet to even budge this thing," Finn got that eerie feeling again. "And no, I'm not giving up."

          There was a collective "Hmm." 

          "We could use one of the bombs we found," one of the rescuers suggested. 

          "Bombs?" asked Finn. "What bombs?"

          "Uh…yeah. I was trying to tell you earlier, we found some kind of arms cache where a piece of the street had collapsed," Akito explained as another faint tap could be heard from beneath them.

          "We'll be right back," Finn said, jumping into the ruins and speaking into the hole. "Alright," he said when he climbed out. "Show me." 

They began making their way down the remains of the building and towards where the sidewalk had once been. "What would bombs be doing in a sewer?"

          "I don't know, you're the expert, you tell me," Akito said when they all stood over an exposed part of a small room under the sidewalk,

          "Hmm," Finn took a flashlight from rescuer 2 and jumped into the dark room. Pieces of the sidewalk had collapsed in and dust covered most of the room's contents, which included a locker full of assault rifles, and shelves upon shelves of small devices resembling pipe bombs. 

          "Any ideas?" Akito asked, jumping in, and picking up one of the pipe bombs. 

          "Don't touch that," Finn said, swiftly grabbing the device away. "I'm surprised these didn't blow when the colony was levelled," he picked up a work suit tossed into the corner and found that it belonged to the colony's water department. "This must have been their storehouse."

          "Why would someone store bombs in a sewer?" asked Akito.

          "I doubt anyone would think of looking in a supply room," Finn said, carefully replacing the device back on one of the shelves. "And by the looks of it, they were planning for something big." Taking out his pen, he pried open the top of the device. "This is X-5, synthetic explosive. There's probably enough here to destroy a couple of buildings,"

          "Who would want to do that?" one of the rescuers asked.

          "No time for that right now," Finn said, thinking back to their buried victim. He took four of the bombs and handed them up to the rescuers. "It's very volatile, don't drop it. Akito, I want you to take the guns and put them in the back of the truck. Make sure you have ammunition. After that, we're going to blow whatever's left."

          "Expecting a war?" Akito asked. 

          "This is just the beginning," Finn said, climbing out of the room and hurrying back to where someone still lay buried beneath the rubble, followed by the rescuers. Akito moved back and forth, carrying three or four guns at a time and placing them in the back of the truck. 

          Finn took the bomb he had partially dismantled and gently slid the explosives out of their casing. There was enough in just one of them to level a house, so he took a sharp fragment of concrete and carefully cut off a piece the size of a dime. He then wedged the small piece under the slab and stuck the detonator cord inside.

          "Do you know what you're doing?" one of the men asked.

          "You don't spend four years at a forensic academy without learning a thing or two about explosives," Finn replied. 

          "Oh, that's good."

          "Too bad I was sick that day," Finn added, everyone sweatdropped. "Alright, this is what I want you guys to do. Two of you take each side and wedge your rebar as far under the slab as you can, make sure that the exposed ends are parallel with the ground. When I tell you to, jump on the ends, and try and force as much weight as you can on it. Got it?" the all nodded. "Good," he held the detonator in his hand. "And…now!" he connected the lines and the small bit of explosive he had wedged under the slab exploded. Combined with the force of four men forcing putting their weight into it, the slab slid off the other side and into the small pit where Finn had first discovered their survivor. With the slab out of the way, they were able to easily lift the overturned couch. There, laying in the broken rubble of the apartment building was Yumi.

**The Bell Tolls For Thee**

          "Has he moved?" Akito asked, looking in Finn's direction. He sat on the floor at between two blankets, staring at their occupants. To the left lay Ryoko, who was covered in bandages. She had sustained severe burns over most of her body, which had been treated to the best of the makeshift hospital's ability. Fortunately, there was a doctor and some medical equipment had been retrieved from the hospital supply room. To the right lay Yumi, who was in a similar state, only more battered than burnt. Her right leg was broken and her right shoulder had been dislocated. She had also sustained a skin-splitting blow to the head and her ribs were broken. 

          "No, he's been like that ever since you brought her in," Yurika replied. By this time, the sun was beginning to set and the backup generator was being hauled up from the centre's basement and connected. The overhead lights flickered to life, illuminating the massive room in which they stood. 

          Akito walked over to his friend and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, you need to get out of here for a while," Finn didn't reply, instead, he stared at a stone he held in his hand and was manipulating between his fingers. 

          Finn stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the dark blue ocean that stretched infinitely out before him. The wind gently brushed against his face and stirred the tall grass. He stepped forward to the very edge and looked down. To his left, he saw Ryoko in her yellow sundress clinging to a piece of rock that jutted out. To his right, he saw Yumi doing much the same. However, he stood still and stared at each of them, for he knew that once he made a move to help one, the other would fall. A sudden gust of wind blasted him and pushed him back a step, but he continued to stare at the two. He knew he had to choose one or the other, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. To save one would mean to destroy the other. His conscious mind told him to help Yumi, but his heart told him to help the other. 

          Suddenly, the ground began to rumble and they both began to loose their hold on the rocks. The more Finn hesitated, the more violent the shaking began. It was now or never, save one or loose them both. His eyes met Yumi's for a split second and he then met Ryoko's. "I've made my decision!" he shouted and extended his hand to the one he chose. He could see the other loose her hold and fall towards the deep blue abyss below. Finn pulled her up and onto the grass, but watched helplessly as the other continued to fall, until she was finally engulfed in the blue and out of sight.

          Finn sat with his back against the fractured wall. He held Yumi's hand in one hand and covered his face with the other. Akito and Yurika stood off to the side and looked at their friends. Yurika took a step towards him, but Akito stopped her. The doctor stood over Yumi and placed a small piece of cloth over her face. "I'm sorry," he said in a professional manner, but did seem to respect Finn's grief. "There was severe internal bleeding, there was nothing we could do." It was difficult to tell how Finn actually felt, for his hand still covered his face. The only sign that he was actually alive was the slowly rise and fall of his chest. "We're going to have to move her," the doctor continued. "We need this space for others, I'm sorry." Finn looked up at the doctor and then at Yumi. He brought her cold hand to his lips and he left out the back door.

          Akito waited a few minutes before pursuing his friend. He found him outside in the field behind the centre, laying in the grass and staring up at the night sky. For a while, Akito just stood in the doorway and watched Finn from a distance. Finn still held the stone and rolled it around in his hand. He felt something push past him and saw Ruri moving towards Finn in the bright light of the two moons. 

          "Mr. Saotome," she said, standing beside him.

          "Ruri," he replied quietly.

          "Your actions are like those of a child. You are an adult, start acting like one." 

          "Somehow I knew you'd say something like that," Finn smirked for a second and turned back to staring at the stars. "Haven't changed a bit."

          "What do you mean?" Ruri asked, puzzled.

          "Catch," he tossed the stone in her direction and waited a few moments before he spoke again. "How about now?" 

Ruri took a sharp breath, but composed herself quickly. "What is this…?" she asked herself.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way," Finn said, sitting up. "All the pain and death, it wasn't supposed to happen. But now it's all happening again," he drove his fist into the ground. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"You can't blame yourself," Ruri said in an almost sympathetic voice.

"But I am to blame," Finn said quietly. "This…this whole mess would have been avoided, gah, what an idiot I am!" there was a sudden pain in his cheek.

"Pull yourself together," Ruri said sharply. "You made a choice, you did what any of us would have done in the same situation."

"Do you remember, Ruri? Do you remember all the pain and sorrow? All the death? I tried to undo it all, wipe the slate clean and start over, but it's all happening again. Now I've killed her…" He fell onto his back and looked up at the stars. " 'Fate has one great test in store for us all, has mine already come? And have I failed it?' If I hadn't been…if I was never…my own rage is choking me!"

"Who are you angry at?" Ruri stated more than asked.

"Everything and nothing, I don't know. Here I am going on like some kind of deranged idiot. You remember, don't you?" Finn asked, looking at the moon that was hung directly overhead. Ruri made a sound affirming that. 

"Yes, I do," she said. "I also remember that if it weren't for you, I, along with thousands of others, would be dead by now,"

"Ruri…I don't know what to do. For the first time in both of my lives, I don't know what to do. I've always had a plan; some guiding thought that pointed me in the right direction. But now…I don't know. I just don't know," Finn heaved a frustrated sigh. "As soon as I saw Yumi there in the rubble…it all left me. And now I've gone and killed her…"

"Giri," Ruri said. "Japanese word, means 'the burden hardest to bear'," Finn continued to stare at the night sky. "I heard about the arms cache," she said when she noticed Finn didn't seem to be paying attention. "I can read the signs, I know what's coming."

"I hopped it wouldn't come to this," Finn said. "This is just the beginning. There's more to come, it's all happening again."

"Is laying on your back and babbling to the stars going to solve anything? Are you going to just give up after all this?"

"I'm tried, Ruri," he closed his eyes for a long time before opening them again to look at the moon. "I've been fighting all my life. I'm just so tired, but…" he trailed off.

"You can't," Ruri finished for him.

"There's more," Finn said, picking up a derailed train of thought. "They've got more."

"Of what?" Ruri asked.

"Of this," he held the fragment of novalite in the moonlight. "They used 23 grams to blow the Utopia Colony, 12 grams to blow the Antarctic base, and they still have 65 grams left, easily enough to take out three more colonies. Who knows? They may have already wiped out the others already."

"What about the UF?" asked Akito, who had been listening in on the conversation.

"They're confused. It could be weeks before they figure out what's going on. We can't rely on them," Finn answered, not particularly surprised to see Akito emerge from the shadows in the doorway. "Anyway, soldier or civilian, these guys are out to destroy us all," Finn tossed the novalite fragment in Akito's direction. "Catch."

"I see," Akito said after a moment, sinking to the ground. "How long to you give us before the Successors strike again?"

"They're probably enjoying the confusion, I'd give them another few weeks. They want us to suffer, what could be more painful than twisting the knife?"

"What do we do?" asked Akito.

"Organizing any kind of defence around whatever's left of the population's a no go," Finn said. "They can jump the bombs wherever they want, so setting up a militia doesn't work. They'd just blow us up from a safe distance."

"What about a counter attack?" Akito asked. "If we found out where they're based than…"

"Nu uh, they're expecting that. They want the UF to start dropping bombs on any suspected Successor sites. Besides, it would only strengthen their resolve. The more you push, the harder they push back," Finn explained, all the while staring up at the sky and speaking in a factual, yet disinterested voice, as though he were recounting something he'd known for a long time. "One thing bothers me about this whole thing."

"What could be worse than this?" Akito asked.

"If they're jumping bombs, that means they've built the jump computer, which means…"

"It's all starting over again," Akito finished. 

          With the conversation having reached its conclusion there, Finn's mind wandered back to Yumi. He loved her; there was no doubt in his mind. He felt like a traitor and that he'd committed a grave injustice against her. But he kept thinking what he had felt back on the cliff. He had looked at Yumi and seen nothing but happiness. In the split second their eyes had met, he had seen everything they had done together. All the joyful times they had experienced and the love they had shared. When he had met Ryoko's eyes, he saw pain and death. He saw destruction he had witnessed and the devastation he had caused with his own two hands. The blood that he spilled and the tears he had wrung from others' eyes drowned him in that moment. But it was real! He knew it was real. The life he had lived with Yumi was not his own, but another's, someone who had died the moment Finn awoke that one morning only days ago. 

          …to be continued in Act 10

                             **End of **Act 9****


	10. Enter the Pilot: Act 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com  Thanks!

**Act 10**

****

**The Game Begins**

          Finn held the sleeve of his shirt over his face, but the dust passed right through the thin filter of cloth. Several days had now passed and they had found another makeshift shelter at the northern edge of the colony, which hadn't faired any better.

          "Find anything?" Akito asked, not too far behind him. 

          "I don't know," Finn coughed back and continued to search through the dark room. He swept his light around through the thick clouds of dust and over the ruined pieces of furniture. There were desks buried under heaps of wreckage that used to be the police station. He found his desk snapped in half like a toothpick, which was better than most others, which had been crushed into tiny splinters. Fighting his way through the debris, he made it across the room to one of the walls that still remained upright. He could see sections of the floor below him and had to balance himself precariously on the remaining wooden beams and pieces of unstable floor, which began to crumble beneath his feet. The darkness and the dust blinded him and made it difficult to breath, but he pressed forward. Just a little further and he would have reached his destination. He carefully placed his foot on a section of flooring that seemed to be in one piece and tested it. Adding a little pressure to the section at a time, Finn gradually eased his weight onto it and moved forward another step. However, while all his weight was concentrated on that one piece of unbroken floor, it decided to give away, and sent Finn tumbling to the floor below in a cloud of dust and a thunderous crash.

          "You alright?" Akito called, taking a few steps into the room.

          "Yes, perfectly alright!" Finn retorted, hanging from the wooden beams by one hand and holding onto the flashlight with the other. A piece of the ceiling above broke away and beaned him in the head. "Ow," little waterfalls fell from his eyes. 

          Finn stuffed the flashlight in his pocket, swung his legs over the beam, and hauled himself up. However, during this maneuver, the flashlight slipped from his pocket and fell to the ground below, breaking into a collection of useless pieces. "Perfect," he muttered and proceeded to feel his way along. Akito provided what light he could from his position in the doorway with his flashlight, but it was of little use, and it was too much to risk one of the few flashlights they had by tossing it over to Finn, who continued to stumble and trip his way across the broken second floor of the police station. 

Finally, he reached his destination. Pushing and kicking debris away from the door, he managed to slip inside a dark room. It was pitch black and Finn hoped he knew it well enough to get by without his light.

          "Come on, where are you?" he mumbled to himself, feeling along any shelves inside the room that were still upright. Finally, he felt what he was looking for and quickly removed his backpack. He stuffed anything that he thought might be useful into the bag until he struggled to hold it up. However, he did not find the one object in particular that he was looking for. He continued to feel up and down any shelves and cabinets that were still upright. The room was surprisingly sturdy and the floor was completely intact. Being an interior room that did not have any outside walls, the force of the explosion had left it standing. It was equally fortunate that the police station had been built with bomb threats in mind, and while the structure was not designed to weather the explosion that leveled the colony, it still left most of the structure itself whole. 

          Akito watched the door Finn had disappeared through with some anxiety. He knew the building was built solid and sturdy, he the pieces that fell from the ceilings worried him. To add to his worries, Finn had been gone for some time, and he occasionally heard faint crashes coming from that direction. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, glass crunching and grinding beneath his feet. There was a low rumbling sound, which grew louder and louder by the second. More and more pieces fell from the ceiling and the floor beneath Akito's feet began to crumble away. 

          "Time to go," Finn said as he zipped the backpack up and hoisted it onto his back. He too heard the rumbling and was growing increasingly uneasy inside the tiny room, which he felt had a good chance of falling in on him. However, has he felt his way to the door, he felt something collide with his head and he crashed to the floor. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy and his mind slipping into unconsciousness. "Not…tired…not…tired," he said, struggling to maintain his hold on consciousness. "Didn't get a bedtime story…or water…or," however, his hold on reality slipped away as the darkness that had engulfed his body, now engulfed his mind, and the world around him faded away.

          Outside in the dim light of the main room, Akito was growing more concerned by the second. Pieces now came down in steady streams, and what was left of the floor was crumbling and buckling before it began to sag and crash to the floor below. He made a move to follow the path Finn had taken, but as soon as he put his weight on the beams, they gave away under him. There was no way for him to get across the large room to the small closet Finn had disappeared into. Even if Akito had been able to bridge the gap, it would have made little difference, for he saw the room break away from its supports and fall to the ground floor. A cloud of dust and debris consumed Akito and he was only able to look away when sharp pieces from the ceiling rained down on him. He took a last look at the wreckage below before he scrambled away, out the window, down the tree, which had been stripped of its leaves, that grew just outside the building, and away to safety. 

          "What happened?!" some of the others outside asked when they saw Akito fly down the tree and away from the crumbling building. "Where's Saotome? Is he alright? Where is he?" 

          "Er…" Akito looked at the rubble.

          "There goes another one," someone added.

          "Nah, he'll be back," the wall that ran along the front side of the building collapsed in a plume of dust. 

          "And I have a jaw made of solid gold," the guy said. Akito sweatdropped. 

          "Maybe we'd better give him and hand," he added. The central support column collapsed. 

          "He's a dead man," the guy said, everyone else nodded in agreement. 

          "Uh huh," they said in unison. 

          They all waited until the building had stopped crumbling and the dust settled. 

          "I told you he was a corpse."

          A large slab of concrete shook slightly and everyone glanced in its direction. There was a collective " ? " 

          "Human…hydraulic…Soatome!" the slab slowly rose off the ground, with a struggling Finn underneath.

          "What the?" 

          "Told you so," Akito said, arms crossed. 

          "I live!" Finn said, but the slab began to weigh down on him. "Adrenalin…wearing off…oh boy…"  he fell into the rubble in a small cloud of dust. "Little help?" came a muffled voice. With great effort, they hauled the slab off him. Beneath the half tonne chunk of concrete lay a swirly eyed Finn.

          "Find anything we can use?" Akito asked when the returned to the rec-centre. 

          Finn dumped the bag's contents onto the blanket that served as his bed and began to sift through them. Most of the stuff had been damaged, if not destroyed, during the cave in. "We've got… six radios, a transponder, a couple of cell phones, and two laptops," he picked up one of the computers, which fell to pieces in his hands. "One laptop," he dug around in the bag and pulled more stuff out of the bowels of the nylon chasm and retrieved a few rolled up sheets of paper. "And these."

          "What are they for?"

          "Research," Finn took various cords and pieces of equipment and began to piece them together. "Akito, can you get me the phone from the office? Cord an all?"

          "Sure," Akito left to retrieve the item and returned a few minutes later. "Here."

          "Thanks," Finn took the phone and pulled off the outer casing and sifted through the piles of junk he had brought back from the station. "And…there," he said when he completed his confounding computer creation.

          "What is it?" Akito asked, looking at the mess of wires and various computer parts pieced together. Finn pushed the on button on the laptop, which was at the heart of the monstrosity. The screen blinked and the systems began to boot up.

          "It's alive!" Finn laughed in an overly exaggerated mad scientist kind of voice. "This, my friend, is going to tell us what the rest of the planet looks like."

          "Clever," Ruri said, coming out of nowhere. "You've adapted the computer's internet ports and routed them into the cell phone's send/receive systems."

          "I see…" Akito blinked, his brain slowly, but surely, deciphering the language Finn and Ruri were speaking. 

          "What are you going to use as a transmitter?" Ruri asked. "There are no transmission towers still standing (the author wanted to use a different word there, but realised that it might be interpreted in the wrong way) anywhere close to us," A thousand tonne weight fell on Finn's head.

          "I forgot that," he squeaked, anyone who was listening in on the conversation, granted there weren't many, facefaulted. "Alright little brain cells, time to get to work," he pressed his fingers against his temples and massaged his brain. The sound of rusty gears turning became audible. 

          "Idiot," Ruri muttered and looked at Akito. "I thought you said he was some kind of renowned detective in this reality?"

          "He is," Akito replied. "He just takes his work in a very…unique direction."

          "We're screwed," Ruri said.

          "And………..there," Finn opened his eyes. "We can use the radio transponder to transmit our signal directly to the satellites and totally bypass the whole transmission tower problem!"

          "But they aren't compatible, are they?" asked Akito.

          "Not right now," Finn handed the transponder to Ruri. "Once she's done converting the signal wavelength decoder to receive the cell phone's signal, we can use the transponder to connect to the satellites," Ruri blinked. "You do remember that stuff, right?"

          "Give it here," she grabbed it from him, sat down, and began to pull the transponder apart. 

          Finn continued to fiddle with the computer. Actually, he played pinball, but he pretended to work.

          "There," Ruri dropped the transponder at his feet. 

          "Perfect," he said, examining the piece of equipment.

          "What was your high score?" Ruri asked, looking at the back of the computer screen. 

          "Er…" Finn refused to meet her gaze. "Hey Tenkawa!" he said as Akito passed by. "I need you to run this up to the roof."

          "But the stairs were blown out in the explosion," Akito protested. "How am I going to get up there?"

          Finn looked at Ruri and Ruri looked at Finn. They both nodded.

          "Aww jeez, what am I doing up here?" Akito asked himself as he clung to the side of the building. He had the transponder tucked in a backpack strapped to his back. A long extension cord was tied around his waist, not for his safety, but so that the device could be powered by the generator below. The building had been made of blocks of granite, which had not been entirely worn down to a completely smooth wall. There were many tiny hand and footholds for Akito to cling to. He pulled himself up to the next foothold and looked down to the ground far below him. " 'Go on up, Akito. You'll be fine,' they said."

          "I can't make it up there with this leg," he remembered Finn saying. "And Ruri's not strong enough to climb up that far."

          "You seemed perfectly fine when we went to the police station," Akito grumbled and hit the button on the radio they had strapped onto his shoulder. "Beaver one to base camp, beaver one to base camp. I'm on my final assault, over."

          "Beaver one, this is base camp, we read you loud and clear, over." Finn's voice came through the radio. He could also hear snickers coming from the other end as people listened in on the end. 

          "Look, I don't mean to complain here, but you owe me for this, pal," Akito said, grabbing onto the edge of the building's roof and pulling himself up. "There, I'm up."

          "Don't worry, Beaver one," there were more unsuccessfully stifled laughs. "I'll make you a steak dinner if we ever get back to some kind of civilization, over."

          "With your cooking? Is that a reward or a punishment?" Akito placed the transponder at the roof's centre and plugged the cord into it. "Alright, it's in,"

          "Good, stay up there until we've got everything up and running," Finn said. "What's it look like up there?"

          "Reminds me of Fourth War pictures in my grade eight textbook," he replied, looking out from his vantage point at the damage. He could see the smoke from fires that were still burning and the ruined remains of what had once been a populated city. 

          Meanwhile, back inside the shelter, Finn plugged cables into the computer and was hitting switch after switch on the small command centre he had built. 

          "Here goes," he said to himself as he began to connect to the internet through their makeshift telephone signal. "Gah, I can't believe dialup is even around."

          "Just be thankful that it is," Ruri said.

          ""Hey Akito," Finn said into the radio. "Are you sure it's plugged in? I'm not getting any signal."

          "It's plugged in," Akito said. "Oh wait, I forgot to turn it on." Everyone around them facefaulted. "Ok, it's on, try it now." Finn tried to dial in again, but to no avail.

          "Still nothing," he said, puzzled. Ruri got up and kicked the computer. "What…what are you doing?!" she pointed at the screen, which showed the computer connecting flawlessly. "Oh, right, I forgot, the universal screw driver. 'When in doubt, kick it and shout'," he turned back to the screen and began his work. He started by typing in the URL for his own precinct's website and logging in through the laptop's id codes.

          "What are you doing?" a man asked, looking over Finn's shoulder.

          "Fortunately the server's at HQ in Iacon," Finn mumbled. "I'm trying to…damn! My password's not being accepted. The military must have changed it after the Antarctic base was destroyed."

          "I see what you're doing," Ruri said, looking at the screen. "You intend use the observation satellites to get a surface scan of the planet, and find out just how extensive the damage is, correct?"

          "Exactly. I know Iacon's still standing because the server's still up. Only problem is," there was a brief cause followed by a rapid series of mouse clicks and typing. "They used to let police use to satellites to get a bird's eye view of the cities, but my password's being denied."

          "Let me see," Ruri nudged Finn out of the way and sat down at the computer. She rapidly input commands and window after window appeared on the screen. "I've hacked my way in and have found a surface scan of the planet taken two hours ago. Shall I compare it with scans taken two weeks ago?"

          "Do it," Finn said and Ruri clicked away and a revolving image appeared on the screen. "It looks like only that Antarctic base and the Utopia Colony were destroyed, I guess that's one piece of good news."

          "But they've still got more," Ruri reminded him. "65grams, and we have no idea where they're going to strike next."

          "I wouldn't go that far," Finn said with a devious smile and took over control of the computer. 

          "Um…hello?" came a voice from the other side of the radio. Several hours had now passed and the crowd had dispersed and left Finn in, more or less, peace. 

          "Hmm?" Finn picked up the device. 

          "Can I get down now?" Akito asked. "It's starting to get dark."

          "Woops," Finn sweatdropped. 

          The next few minutes? Hours? Days? Finn really didn't have any clue how long he'd been sitting there, plugging in countless calculations and information into the profiling software on the lapop.

          "Mr. Saotome?" said a voice, disturbing the peaceful rest Finn had slipped into. "Wake up."

          "Wha? Yumi? 'zat you?" Finn mumbled and lifted his head off the keyboard. 

          "Saotome, wake up." 

          "It's too early for this," he yawned and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself surrounded by darkness; the only light came from the computer screen. "What time is it, Yumi?"

          "Idiot," Ruri said.

          "Oh, hey Ruri," he yawned again and stretched. "What's the time?"

          "It's almost 3 in the morning," Ruri informed him. Finn fell onto his back.

          "Wake me up in another five hours," he said. 

          "This is important," Ruri said, giving him a soft kick to the ribs.

          "It can wait," Finn tapped the laptop's screen with his foot, causing it to close and go into sleep mode.

          "She's waking up." 

Finn's eyes shot open. 

          There was a small lantern on beside Ryoko's blanket, but few were actually awake to take comfort in its steady glow. There were a few nurses replacing bandages or cleaning cuts and scrapes; more people had poured in that day and were still being treated. However, only a few people hovered around Ryoko. To her left sat Finn and Ruri, and to her right stood the doctor. Her face was disturbed, but she made slight movements with her head and her hands. She was covered in a light blanket and the smell of burn lotion was heavy in the air.

          "How is she?" Finn asked after they had been in silence for a few minutes.

          "She has multiple fractures up here, here, and here, must have collided with something, you said you came from the Pole, is that right?" the doctor asked.

          "That's right. We were outside when the base blew. I was pushed into the snow, but she was still exposed. I found her quite a ways from there," Finn explained.

          "I see. She also has severe burns over most of her body, lacerations by the dozens, and more bruises than I can count. It's a miracle she even survived being exposed to the blast, let alone the journey here," the doctor put down the clipboard and sat down. "What I don't understand is how you came out of it with only minor injuries."

          "Call it the devil's luck," Finn muttered.

          "I believe I can answer that question," Ruri said. "Mr. Saotome says that he was pushed into an impression in the snow. When the base exploded, the shockwave travelled along the surface of the ground. Because he was technically below the surface, the shockwave passed right over him and left him relatively unscathed, in comparison to Miss Subaru anyway. However, you did not escape completely unharmed," she slapped Finn's back.

          "Erk!" he squeaked. "That stings," he added, his teeth clenched and his eyes wide.

          "Take off your shirt," the doctor said, looking at Finn, who, after a few minutes of being in some kind of some pain induced coma, complied. His upper body didn't look much better than Ryoko. "How could you have been this mobile for so long without noticing?"

          "Beats me," Finn shrugged and glanced at Ryoko. Her hand twitched slightly, as though looking for something. Finn took it in his, but he glanced over at the blanked behind him, which held a small boy with a broken arm. He could still see Yumi laying there, and it tore his heart in two to even think about it. But when he looked at Ryoko, he saw the truth, something real.

          "I didn't know you were a pilot," the doctor said, noticing Finn's hand. "Tell me, when did you get your implant?"

          "Just after the explosion, I needed it to pilot the aestivalis," Finn replied.

          "That would explain it," the doctor said, Finn looked puzzled. "The IFS dulls your sensory receptors for the first few days after the implant is administered. You sustained severe burns, but you didn't notice it because the implant acted as an anaesthetic."

 Ryoko called out in her half sleep and they all turned their attention back to her. 

          "Will she be in any pain when she wakes up?" Finn asked.

          "It should be moderate. We've treated her as best we could, but we've got painkillers standing by if it's too much for her," Ryoko's eyes fluttered and silence descended over them. Slowly, her eyes opened slightly and she took a brief look around her surroundings. Suddenly, she burst upright. The doctor grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to keep her pinned to the blanket.  "Keep her down."

          "What's going on?" asked Finn as he took one of Ryoko's arms and held it to the floor.

          "It's a 'flight-or-fight' response. She still thinks she's in danger and is trying to get away. We have to hold her down until it passes," the doctor said, struggling to keep Ryoko, a fully trained soldier, down.

          "How long does that take?" 

          "Sometimes a few seconds, sometimes a few days," the doctor replied. "Miss. Tenkawa, keep her legs pinned," Ruri complied and the three of them, more or less, kept Ryoko pinned to the blanket.

          Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Ryoko quietened and relaxed. She opened her eyes again and looked at the people staring back at her. Her eyes met Finn's and she couldn't help but crack a slight smile, even though she wasn't quite sure why. However, before either of them could say anything, the doctor shone a light in her eye. 

          "How are you feeling, Miss. Subaru?" he asked. "Are you in any pain?" she shook her head slightly. 

          "Where am I?" she asked in the faintest of voices.

          "You're in the Utopia Colony," the doctor replied, taking her pulse. "Do you remember what happened to you?" she shook her head again. "Well, Mr. Saotome could…" he glanced over his shoulder to find Finn missing. "Miss. Tenkawa, do you know where Mr. Saotome went?" 

          "He was just here a second ago," Ruri said.

          "Hmm, well, he can fill you in on the details later," the doctor pressed a glass of water to her lips. "Take a drink, have something to eat, and then you can go back to sleep. You need to keep your strength up after all that's happened."

          "Thanks," she whispered and took a few sips of water. She rested her head back down on the blanket and slipped back into a light sleep. But her dreams were not as restful as they may have seemed from the outside, for they were filled with the burning heat and blinding light of the blaze someone had carried her through.

          "Excuse me," Ruri said quietly and left, feeling her way across the floor. She found Finn outside, laying on his back again and staring at the stars. "Saotome."

          "I can't take it," Finn said in a quiet voice. "I can't stand to see her like that. She looks like she's in so much pain, I just can't stand to see her like that."

          "You're loosing your grip on reality," Ruri said cautiously. "I suggest you pull yourself together. Subaru…Ryoko will be fine, and if you're worried about the way she looks, there is surgery…

          "It's not about that, Ruri," Finn as he pulled himself up off the ground. He began walking slowly away from the building heading south.

          "Where are you going?" Ruri called after him.

          "I'll be right back," Finn called back. "Just going for a walk. I'll be back, I promise," he said all this without looking back and continued on his path.

**Remembrance**

          "I can't believe he'd run off," Yurika fumed. "Little coward."

          "He's had a pretty bad shock though," Akito said. "I can understand."

          "So you're going to run away with him?" 

          "I didn't say that. It's just, I think I understand."

          "What do you mean?" Yurika asked, still furious at the news of Finn's departure. 

          "Remember the time we were stuck in the aestivalis out in space? You, Megumi, and me? We said the only plan was to drop someone off and go back for them later. It's not like I wanted to kick you out of the aesti and leave you floating there in space, but…" he trailed off.

          "But what?" Yurika demanded. "Megumi was more important?"

          "I didn't say that either. I guess it's just something you have to live through to understand. I'm not even sure I understand it. Just promise you won't tell Ryoko about any of this. Let Saotome tell her when he comes back."

          "If he comes back," Yurika muttered.

          "He'll be back," Ruri said, appearing out of nowhere behind them. "Saotome has yet to break a promise; he'll be back."

          Over a week had passed, and still, there was no sign of Finn. Everyone alive in the southern end of the Utopia Colony had been brought to the shelter, and no one at the northern shelter had seen anyone matching his description. But Akito still kept the front doors open and a light on out front, waiting for his friend to return. However, when another week had passed, and then another, he began to loose faith. Over a month had passed now. By this time, Ryoko was able to walk and most of her burns had, more or less, healed to a tolerable level. She still bore marks of the inferno she had lived through, but after staying motionless in a crowded rec centre was driving her crazy. Most of the survivors had recovered from bruises and scraps, and only those with broken bones still lay about the shelter. Many of them were still shaken, though, having seen their loved ones carried off and buried in the field behind the shelter. Those who were mobile were beginning the process of digging out their homes. In the colony of what was once just over a million people, only two thousand remained.

          "Yurika! Come here, quickly!" Akito called as he shovelled rubble of what had once been his house into the back of one of the few pickup trucks still working. 

          "What is it?" Yurika asked, wiping her sweaty forehead on the sleeve of her shirt.

          "Remember this? Akito said, pulling a dusty, and slightly burnt, picture out of the ruins. It was of himself, Yurika, and Finn, taken a long time ago when the three of them had graduated from high school and had gone to the Great Martian Sea for a day at the beach. 

          "I was wondering," Yurika said, taking the picture, but she struggled with the words she was trying to say. "Is this even real?"

          "Ow!" Akito hopped on one foot after a large chunk of concrete rolled out the back of the truck and onto his foot. "It's real enough for me."

          "It's just that…" 

          However, before Yurika could finish, she was interrupted by a shout from one of the others. 

          "Hey, Tenkawa!" one of them called. "We're heading back now," the sun was beginning to set and a damp, cool air was descending on them. 

          "I guess that's all for today," Akito said, hopping along after them. Yurika tucked the picture into her pocket and joined them in the back of the truck for the ride to the dump sight and then back to the shelter.

          Ryoko was teaching some kids kendo, using snapped branches of trees as their swords when Akito, Yurika, and the rest returned. 

          "Too soft!" Ryoko said, ducking one of the children's swing and tapping him on the head with hers. She was wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of track pants retrieved from what had once been a clothing store and it was obvious that the baggy attire was slowing her down. "In combat you have no room for error. It's kill or be killed."

          "Yeah, she's changed a whole lot," Akito sweatdropped when he saw Ryoko knock another kid's stick out of his hands and bringing her weapon level with his throat. 

          "Hey, Tenkawa," Ryoko called over to Akito, who had been decided as the unofficial leader of their little tribe. "When the hell is the military going to get off it's ass and finally send in some relief?"

          "How should I know?" he shrugged. 

          "At least send someone to one of the other colonies, for crying out loud! I need to get out of this scrap yard, it's driving me crazy."

          "It's not really that simple," Akito said. "We only have four working vehicles, and none of them can make it to the nearest colony, which is almost 600 kilometres away."

          "So you're saying we're stuck here," Ryoko concluded. 

          "Basically. Until Sao…one of our scouts gets back on foot, then we'll have some news of the outside world."

          "So you're willing to risk someone going on foot but won't let anyone drive there?" Ryoko smirked. "What kind of leader are you? Why not just use the comp to e-mail for help?"

          "Fi…er…the guy who got that up and running put it into sleep mode before we lost him, and only he knows the password," Akito explained. 

          "Great," Ryoko said with deliberate sarcasm. "Alright troops!" she said, turning back to the kids. "Come at me! Give it everything you've got this time!"

          Ryoko woke out of her uneasy sleep. It was very dark; the generator had been shut down for the night, but by now she knew her way around in the dark and slipped outside into the night air. Both moons lit the outside, which was silent and cool. She heard something crash not too far away and moved around to investigate. Her broken collarbone still ached slightly, but she shrugged it off. Practicing kendo with the kids with her good side probably didn't help, but she couldn't stand the inactivity anymore. 

          She walked along the side of the building and followed the sounds she heard, which lead her around the back of the shelter. There was someone there, sitting with his back to her and tossing small stones against a pile of rubble. She couldn't see the stranger's face clearly, but could tell it was a man. He continued picking up small pebbles and bouncing them off the pile of crumbling concrete, while Ryoko watched with a mix of suspicion and fascination.

          "You can come out now," the man said without turning his head to look in her direction. Ryoko slipped behind the corner wondering whether or not he had been referring to her. Perhaps someone had been standing at the back door? But this possibility didn't seem too likely. "Ryoko," still, she did not utter a reply. She did not recognize the voice to belong to anyone in the shelter. Granted, she didn't know half of them, but anyone who seemed to know her should at least have a familiar voice to her. She looked around the corner again; the stranger still sat with his back to her, the faint noise of stones bouncing off the concrete was still clear in the night air. However, he was not entirely a stranger to her, there was something about his voice that she seemed to recognize, but couldn't fit a name, face, or even a time or place to it.

          "Who are you?" she asked, stepping out from behind the shadow cast by the fractured wall and into the moonlight. The stranger stopped throwing the pebbles and his shoulders slumped slightly. 

          "Sit," he said, motioning to a small patch of grass opposite him, but Ryoko still eyed him with suspicion.

          "You can hold onto the brick if you want, and you can bash my brains in if I try anything," he said, his face still concealed in the shadow cast by his hair, which drooped over his eyes and hid his face from the light of the moons high above. Ryoko sat down and looked at him. The moons were behind the stranger, and his face was still hidden from her, even at this angle. She noticed that what she had thought as his shoes where actually tattered and bloodstained rags tied to his lacerated and raw feet. His clothes were torn and dusty and there seemed to be an aura of weariness about him.

          "Who are you?" she demanded again. Her question caused the stranger's shoulders to slump even more.

          "Who am I?" he asked. "I thought I knew, up until a little while ago."

          "What the hell are you babbling about?" Ryoko said irritably. The stranger lifted his face up, exposing it to the moonlight. "You…"

          "Uh huh," Finn said. "You really don't remember me, do you?"

          "Tenkawa told me that someone had brought me back here from the Antarctic base, but had disappeared, I presumed dead," she said in a quiet voice. "I guess I have you to thank for my life."

          "You really don't remember," Finn said again, rolling a stone around in his hand. He kept starting to throw it towards her, but stopped each time. He thought that maybe it was better for Ryoko to remain ignorant, and that maybe it was better for her not to know. "I went through hell and back to find you again," he said to himself, but just loud enough for Ryoko to hear. 

          "If you're the one who dragged my sorry ass here, why did you leave?" she asked. "What kind of coward are you? Afraid they might blow the colony up again?"

          "No, I don't think it's that," Finn replied. "I just needed a little while, that's all."

          "So who are you anyway?" Ryoko asked. "And what do you mean by 'I just needed a little while'?" 

          "You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you," Finn said, seemingly disregarding her question.

          "I'm getting mad, pal. Start talking sense or I'll take you up on your offer and crush that pretty little skull of yours." 

          "And after all this you still don't remember," he shook his head and heaved a sigh. Neither of them spoke for until a while had passed. 

          "Ok, I'm outta here," Ryoko got up and began to make her way to the back door of the shelter.

          "I won't let you go like this, not because of him!" Finn said suddenly, Ryoko stopped dead in her tracks.

          "What…how did…?" Ryoko fumbled for words.

          "In one reality," Finn said in a quiet voice. "Those were the last words you heard." He rose and stood behind her. "Ryoko." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

          "Don't touch me!" she wheeled around and socked him one in the face. Finn recoiled from the blow, but stood his ground. Ryoko fell to her knees and hugged herself, as though she had suddenly become very cold, even though the air was warm. 

          "Ryoko," Finn said again, still standing behind her. "I never wanted to cause you pain."

          "Then just go away!" she shouted. "Just leave me alone!"

          "I'll leave you alone if you want," he tossed the stone in the air and caught it. "But I'll give you a choice."

          "Just go away," Ryoko said shivering. 

          "Like I said, I'll leave you alone. But I'm going to give you a choice first. If you want, I'll go away; leave and never come back, if that's what you want. But if I leave now, you'll never know the truth," Finn continued to roll the stone in his hand. "So I'm giving you the choice. You can know the truth, and if you still want me to leave, I will."

          "What do you mean, 'the truth'?" Ryoko asked. Finn tossed the stone to her, which landed at her feet, shimmering in the moonlight.

          "You'll just have to see for yourself," he said. "I leave the choice up to you."

          Ryoko shuffled around and looked at the glistening stone. She reached a trembling hand out to touch it, but stopped before her fingers could feel the smooth stone. Looking up, she saw Finn's gaze fixed on her. She seemed to search for an answer from him, but he remained still, his face fixed, and she found nothing. There was a kind of aura surrounding the stone, and the memories of sights and sounds, tastes, smells, and textures all flashed before her mind. Quickly, she scooped the stone up off the ground and held it in her hand.

          She opened her eyes and looked around her in alarm. She stood on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. When she saw a blonde haired woman behind her, she didn't know whether to feel relieved that she had company or alarmed that she had been brought to this place. 

          "What is this place?" she tried to say, but no words escaped her throat. The wind blew through her hair and she noticed she was wearing a yellow sundress. The blonde haired woman motioned further down along the cliff's edge. There were two people clinging to the wall of the cliff, while a girl stood at the edge and looked down at them. She burst into a run towards them, but stopped suddenly when she saw the girl was herself. She looked back at the blonde haired woman, who merely shook her head and motioned for her to watch. 

          Hanging onto a piece of exposed rock were two people. One she recognized as Finn, but the other couldn't put a name to. They seemed to be fighting, trying climb up while knocking the other down. Finally, the other man kicked at Finn's hands, causing him to loose his grip and begin to tumble helplessly down into the dark blue abyss of the ocean below. The other Ryoko began to kick at the other man, but he continued to pull himself further and further up the cliff, until he finally climbed over the edge and onto the grass. The other her began to beat the man, kicking him in the ribs and knocking him down. She kicked him again and again with fury and rage until he finally stopped moving. There was another blonde haired woman standing by the other Ryoko. They were speaking, but the wind blew the words away from the spectator's ears. There was an expression of unimaginable anguish on her face and she could see tears streaming from her eyes.

          Suddenly, the other Ryoko threw herself over the edge of the cliff and the ground beneath Ryoko's feet began to shake and give away. She tried to grab onto any solid ledge of rock, but it all crumbled beneath her hands and she began to fall. The blue abyss turned blacker and blacker with each passing second. Suddenly, everything turned black as she was swallowed up by the blackness and tossed into a place she did not recognize, but felt all-too familiar with it. 

          Not too far away, the other Ryoko looked around. But in all her gazing around the strange place they both found themselves trapped in, she did not seem to see Ryoko, who looked on in terrified curiosity. A small vidwindow appeared in front of the other Ryoko, who began to speak, but she could not hear the words. 

          Without warning, a vidwindow appeared in front of Ryoko.

          "Those unforgettable days…for them I live," it read. Ryoko tried to speak but, still, no sound escaped her throat. "Those unforgettable days…for them I live," the window printed again.

          "I don't understand!" she tried to scream. "But is it you want from me?"

          "Those unforgettable days…for them I live," the window read again. "Continue? Y/N," the window floated before Ryoko and blinked again. "Those unforgettable days…for them I live. Continue? Y/N," the window became slightly transparent, but the text was still floated in the air. Ryoko looked up and saw herself on the other side of the window. It was like looking in a mirror, only this reflection was herself. The reflection stared at the window, not seeming to notice Ryoko on the other side. The window blinked and the message appeared again. Shakily, Ryoko reached out to touch it, but hesitated when she saw the reflection continue to stare at the window.

          They both reached out to touch the option the window had given them. When Ryoko's hand touched the floating image, she could feel a surge of senses flood into her mind. The 'yes' icon she touched blinked and a small hourglass appeared. Images flashed before her eyes. Quickly, she withdrew her hand, but found she couldn't. Her hand was sinking into the window, as though being pulled through from the other side. The more she tried to pull her hand out of the window, the stronger its hold became. Suddenly, she noticed that the same thing was happening to the Ryoko on the other side. Their hands had touched the window at the same point, and their hands began to pass through one another. She could feel herself not passing through, but merging with her reflection. Gradually, their forms joined, like a lost spirit returning home. There was another surge of senses in her mind, memories, sounds, sights, everything flashed before her eyes.

          Ryoko opened her eyes slowly. It was dim, but not dark. Lifting her head out of the sand, she noticed the sun slowly slipping into the sea. She looked around and found herself on a beach, waves gently lapping at the shore and a breeze softly weaving itself through her hair. Sitting on the sand, she noticed someone on a beach chair gazing at the bright, red sun as it dipped further and further into the horizon. Ryoko rose to her feet and took a few steps towards the figure. A smile crept onto her face when she saw the figure's face and she burst into a run, tackling Finn and sending them both crashing into the sand.

          Ryoko took a sharp breath and her vision cleared. She looked around and saw a brightly moonlit night. Around her were piles of rubble and small patches of grass, with the shelter behind her. When she looked before her, she noticed Finn still standing there, his eyes fixed on her. He said nothing and continued to stare at her. She closed the stone around her fist and took a few steps forward. They stood face to face, but Finn's expression did not change and he stood waiting for her response. Quickly, she swung her arm back and drove her fist into the side of his face, sending him crashing to the ground. 

          "That was more keeping me waiting so long," she said when he had brought himself somewhat upright again. She tackled him and threw her arms around him.

          "Welcome back, Ryoko," Finn smiled, taking her in his arms and they both fell onto the grass, locked in each other's arms. 

**The New Threat**

          Yurika yawned as she walked down the shelter's steps. The sun had already risen, but very few people were up. When she passed Ryoko's blanket, she found it vacant, and assumed she was up early practicing her kendo. However, the fact that she did not see her out front worried her. 

          "Where's Ryoko?" Akito asked with a yawn, coming up behind her. He rubbed his eyes and yawned again. "She's usually out here by now."

          Yurika went back inside to see if Ryoko was anywhere to be found, while Akito scouted around outside. He had a quite a surprise when he ventured around to the back of the shelter. There, Ryoko and Finn lay asleep in each other's arms. To Akito, it was one of those about-time moments. However, he cringed slightly when he saw the condition of Finn's feet, which were wrapped in rags, stained with blood. He was about to wake them when he heard a car pull up in front of the shelter and honked its horn.

          The sudden noise roused the pair from their sleep just in time to catch Akito disappearing behind the corner. Parked out front was a black van. The windows were tinted and there were no distinguishing marks, aside from a circular blue logo painted onto the side. The side door slid open and two men in black suits appeared, followed by a long-haired man in a navy blue suit. 

          "Akatsuki," Akito glared at the sight they approached. 

          "Are you Mr. Finn Saotome?" one of the men wearing a black suit asked.

          "No, I'm not him. What do you want?" Akito demanded, not at all intimidated by the two towering giants that stood before him.

          "Please, we're not here to pick any fights," the man in the blue suit said. "I'm looking for someone, a Detective Saotome, is he here?"

          "Who wants to know?" Akito asked, knowing full well whom he was addressing.

          "Nagare Akatsuki," he said. "At your service. Is Detective Saotome here?"

          "What do you want from him?"

          "That's between him and I," Akatsuki said. "I take it he's here then?"

          "Could be," Akito said. 

Akatsuki cleared his throat and one of the men grabbed Akito by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "Now, tell me again, is Detective Saotome here?" 

          "I'd have to ask around," Akito lied, trying to free himself from the giant's grasp. Akatsuki cleared his throat again, but before he could say anything, the man dropped Akito to the ground and held his face. A small stone rolled to Akatsuki's feet, after ricocheting off the man's face.

          "Alright, Akatsuki," Finn said, emerging from behind the corner of the outside of the shelter and into view. "What do you want?"

          "Ah, Detective Saotome, I trust?" Akatsuki asked; Finn nodded. "We've been looking for you for some time,"

          "Gee, don't I feel special," Finn muttered. "I don't have all day, so whatever bullshit you've got, make it quick."

          "Very well," Akatsuki said. "I trust you are familiar with the events of the past month?"

          "Enlighten me," Finn said.

          "You know perfectly well that the Antarctic base and Utopia Colony were levelled, and that these attacks are a result of terrorist groups descended from people who were banished from Earth well over a century ago. But rumour has it you have information regarding these attacks, information that could be quite valuable in the counter-force group the UF has assigned to deal with the problem." Finn smirked at this remark. "What's so funny?"

          "I didn't even know the UF was doing something about it," replied Finn. "Get to the point."

          "My point is that you're the only survivor of the Antarctic attack and you had access to certain UF files you were using in your investigation, most of which were destroyed. The UF would very much like to see your work continue and would appreciate any assistance you are capable of providing. You must understand that speed is of the essence and that new attacks could be underway even as we speak."

          "That's not likely," Finn said. "They don't have enough detonators to blow another colony, not that I'm aware of anyway. If any attacks were planned, they would have been carried out by now."

          "So, you're saying you won't assist in the recovery of the remaining…substance in question?"

          "I'm saying that the time constraint is not as pressing as you make it out to be. There haven't been any raids on UF bases or supply warehouses in the past month, have there?"

          "No, none that I'm aware of," Akatsuki replied.

          "Which means that these people whose ancestors were exiled from Earth don't have any more detonation equipment."

          "You're reputation doesn't do you justice, Detective," Akatsuki mused. "But I'm afraid I don't have much time. Will you help us, or not?"

          "What's it going to be?" a man in a black suit asked when Finn did not reply.

          "Fine," Finn said with heavy reluctance.

          "Then please, come with us," Akatsuki said and he slid open the door to the van. Finn shuffled toward.

          "I'm going too," Ryoko said. "Saotome here wasn't the only survivor." 

          "Who are you?" one of the men demanded.

          "Pilot Subaru," Ryoko said, glaring at the man, as if to say 'what's it to you?' Akatsuki looked at her, then back at Finn. 

          "I'll explain later," Finn added, his hands in his pockets. "Oh, wait a sec," he said as he was about to climb into the van. "Tenkawa," Akito stepped forward. Finn withdrew his hands from his pockets and extended his hand, which Akito took. "Make sure the place is still standing when we get back, alright? And remember to feed the armadillo at dawn."

          "Right," Akito nodded, shaking hands.

          "Let's go then," Finn said, climbing into the van and taking a seat. Ryoko climbed in and sat down beside him. Opposite of them sat Akatsuki and a short haired woman wearing a white Nergal uniform. The giants took the seats along the far side of the van and stared forward behind their dark sunglasses and they were soon on their way to destination unknown.

          "First, let me introduce my private secretary, Erina Won. Her job is to assist you in your investigation and act as a liaison between your team and myself. I will fill the UF in on what you find," Akatsuki said.  

          "Since when does Nergal get involved with military matters?" Ryoko asked, knowing full well what the true answer was.

          "We've been developing technology using the novalite samples as a base power source," Akatsuki explained. "Much of that technology was destroyed when the Antarctic base was destroyed and some was stolen from labs prior to the Utopia Colony's unfortunate fate. We feel that since the rebels are using Nergal technology that we have an obligation to see it returned and the culprits brought to justice."

          'That was a perfect bullshit answer,' Finn thought. "And I take it since I'm the only surviving investigator that I would have information in regard to who we're dealing with and their capabilities." 

          "Precisely," Erina said. "You were the lead investigator in your section at the Antarctic base, were you not?" however, before Finn could even nod, she continued, not seeming to draw in breath, not like the undead snake woman needed oxygen. "We also feel you might be more…how should I put this? Personally motivated to see the rebels brought to justice, since they did destroy your home, and your fiancé if I'm not mistaken." These words stung; the scabs ripped off, exposing the open wounds, and pouring salt into them.

          "From our records, you took a sample of novalite from the evidence room at the Pole shortly before the explosion. I trust you still have it?" Akatsuki asked.

          "It was lost during the explosion," Finn lied.

          "Didn't you try and find it?"

          "All things considered, I had more important things to worry about than some rock," he looked at Ryoko for a split second. "Tell me something, where did you come from? One of the other colonies?"

          "We've been at the Utopia Colony since just before the disaster. Fortunately, the house I own is outside the colony itself, in the hills, and wasn't effected much by the blast," Akatsuki said. "We would have contacted you sooner, but your recent absence made such contact impossible."

          "Uh huh, so where are we going now?"

          "To our Mars headquarters in Iacon. I have contacted them and have let them know that you are to be expected. Every resource Nergal can provide will be at your disposal."

          "Do any of the other colonies know what's happened? Surely they must have thought something was wrong when an entire colony disappeared off the face of the planet," Finn asked.

          "The military has classified this top secret and has closed off the Utopia Colony and the Pole. They don't want to start a panic."

          "So they're not sending any aid," Ryoko concluded. 

          "Probably trying to safe their own hides," Finn muttered. "Has the UF pulled its forced off the planet?"

          "I couldn't say," Akatsuki said. "But in any case, our first priority should be to do something about you two. You're not exactly in the best of shape," he eyed Finn's raw feet and Ryoko's slumped posture, which took the strain off her broken collarbone. Her face still bore some marks from her ordeal, but it was mild in comparison to what she had looked like a month previous.

          They soon arrived at Akatsuki's villa, which was nestled at the base of the foothills that surrounded the colony, and were moved to a helicopter, which was to take them to the Iacon Colony. They arrived at their destination several hours later and were transported to Nergal headquarters, which resembled more of a military installation than a civilian corporate office. Armed guards met them at every entrance, as well as security checkpoints every few minutes. Finn and Ryoko were taken first to the office's own sickbay, where their injuries were treated. Finn's feet were cleaned and bandaged and Ryoko's bones were set. It was discovered that she actually had pre-fracture damage to almost every bone in her body and it was a miracle that she was even mobile, let alone in condition to practice kendo. 

          When they had been patched up, Finn was taken to the secret labs of the building, deep underground, where the more sensitive work Nergal conducted was carried out. Ryoko was forced to remain in a residence quarters, for 'security reasons', even though she had insisted on going, which meant she threatened to beat the crap out of anyone who dared to stand in her way. Unfortunately, with her injuries, she couldn't see her threats through.

She knocked on the door of his assigned quarters later. It was well past midnight and most of the building's staff hat left for the day. Only the security and critical research personnel were kept on-site, again, for 'security reasons'. There was no answer when she knocked, so she tried to door to see if it was locked. Surprisingly enough, it opened and she looked into the dimly lit room, which consisted of a bunk, a desk with a computer, and a small bathroom, which was pretty much the same set up she had down the hall. She found Finn laying face down in his bunk, books scattered about him, and papers strewn all over the floor. 

"Finn?" she asked in a quiet voice. "You awake?" in response, she heard a click from a small device in his hand.

"Saotome isn't available to return to consciousness right now," it said. "Please leave a message after the tone." 

"That's not good enough, Saotome," Ryoko said, crossing her arms. There was another click from the device.

"Unless of course it is Ryoko Subaru calling, in which case, give him five minutes and try your call again."

Ryoko sat down at the computer and waited. When five minutes had passed, she poked him. "Wake up," no response. "Damnit, Saotome! Wake up!"

          "Sleepy time," Finn groaned and lifted his head off the bunk. A book stuck to his face and he looked sleepily at his surroundings. 

          "Man," the author yawned. "All this talk about sleep…" the sound of the author's face hitting the keyboard followed.

          "I've got a few questions for you," Ryoko said from her seat. She turned on the light above the computer and shone it in his direction.

          "I didn't break the computer, Chief, it was like that when I got it," his head hit the bunk again. Ryoko had one of two options. On the one hand, she could say something in a really seductive voice and bring Finn back into reality through the ever-present drive within all human beings. Or, she could grab a glass from the bathroom and pour cold water over his face. Naturally, and to many readers' disappointment, she opted for the latter of the two. However, before she could dump the water on him, his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. 

          "Nu uh," Finn said as he took the glass. "I don't need a shower," he pulled himself upright and downed the water. "You said you had a question for me?" he asked groggily.

          "Yes," Ryoko sat back down in her chair. " 'Fiancé'?" 

          "Hmm?" Finn blinked.

          "Are you trying to play dumb?"

          "No, I'm playing tired," however, Ryoko didn't seem to find the humour in that one. "Sorry. I've been working non-stop for the last fourteen hours on an a few cookies I grabbed from the mess hall and a can of pop and, therefore, am depleted of energy and am suffering from strenuous lack of mental rest and revitalization," Ryoko blinked. "I'm tired as hell." 

          "Alright, I will repeat the question. 'Fiancé'?"

          "Direct hit!" the workers inside Finn's head sounded the alarm. "Activate the stallometer while the explanation circuits are booted up!" Finn looked seriously at Ryoko.

          "Well?" she pressed. It was difficult for Finn to tell what kind of mood she was in. Her voice was not curious, but not angry or accusing either. He couldn't put his finger on just what exactly she was feeling. The question also caught him off guard and he found himself at a loss for words. He searched her eyes and was able to infer just one thing.

          "Ryoko," he said as he rose and motioned for her to make way at the computer. She got up and stood with her back leaning against the wall as Finn sat down and began to work at the computer terminal. She was about to say something after a minute had passed, but Finn motioned for her to give him a minute before she was able to speak. "Look here," he said, pointing at the screen. Ryoko stood beside him and found a picture of a young woman, her personal information printed beside it. "This is…was Yumi Yoshino," Finn said in a quiet but serious voice. "She and I were engaged to be married a couple of months from now, but she died a month ago; injuries from the explosion in the Utopia Colony. I was, and still am, I guess, a forensic investigator for the Utopia Colony Police. I met her a few years ago while she was directing traffic away from a crime scene. Eventually we found ourselves involved with one another," he continued. "Then, six weeks and three days ago, I woke up, and something was wrong. It was like I had led my entire life up until that point in some kind of a dream. I didn't know who I was, who she was, or what in the world I was doing in the apartment we share…shared. Gradually, I came to my senses and carried on, thinking I had probably had some weird dream or something. While Yumi and I were walking back home after having lunch, we were pushed over by some guy carrying a small box, with an angry man chasing him. Being a policeman, I assisted in the box's recovery, which ended up in my possession by an act of accident and negligence. When I touched the box's contents, a small stone, it was a key that unlocked myself. You remember, you touched it," it was at this time that he rose and walked over to the sliding door of the small bathroom. When Ryoko looked at him, he nudged his head in the direction a camera mounted above the computer. She nodded and joined him in the small, tiled room. Finn pulled the mirror back and removed a small transmitter device from inside and crushed it beneath his foot before turning the shower on. "Do you remember what happened? Back inside Fort Mag, with Akatsuki?" he said over the noise of the shower. Ryoko shook her head.

          "I remember fighting him, but then it was like I fell asleep," she said.

          "That's because," Finn still spoke in a serious tone of voice. "You were dead," he continued before Ryoko could reply. "When you were gone and Zero was gaining ground, that was it. I decided that I would undo everything. I overloaded the PT engine inside Jetstream and blew the jump computer, along with myself and Akatsuki," he looked her in the eyes now. "I decided that letting you live…I had to do it, even if it meant never having met you. I couldn't live with myself knowing I hadn't seized the only chance I had of bringing you back." In the noise of the shower in the background, Ryoko had to read Finn's lips more than listen to him.

          "And this is the result. This is the world that would have existed had the jump computer, boson jumping, PT engines, had they never existed in the first place," he paused. "But, something went wrong. Our memories, yours, mine, even Tenkawa, Ruri, and the Captain's, were all kept intact. They were hidden away from us; locked up. And the novalite was the key. I don't know why, but when we came into contact with a piece of a CC, novalite, whatever, it unlocked those memories. It might have something to do with our nanomachines, I really don't know. But the fact is that when we touched that stone, the parts of us repressed by the reality flux emerged and we became ourselves again. This world, this reality we're in, it's not ours," he reached over and turned the shower off. "Keep that little tidbit to yourself." Ryoko nodded. Who knew what kind of destruction Akatsuki could cause if he ever remembered?

          They emerged from the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bunk. "But I guess I'm straying too far from the point," he looked at the picture of Yumi still on the screen, the word 'deceased' printed in big red letters under it. "If you're going to ask me whether I loved her or not, the answer is yes, I loved her. It kills me to even think that she's gone. But…" he trailed off for a moment before continuing. "But it wasn't real. It just wasn't real. I look back at it, and it wasn't really me that lived with her," he looked at Ryoko now. "But you…you are real." 

**The Usual Stuff**

          Finn stood at the before a large conference table, which held various executives of Nergal, including Akatsuki. Ryoko had also been allowed to sit in on the meeting. There was a large screen behind him and a remote in his hand. Someone's leather chair squeaked and they all lurched forward a little, all eyes on Finn.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, picked up a glass, and filled it with water from a small pitcher, not because he was thirsty but because he really enjoyed grating Akatsuki's nerves by making him wait. "Alright, as you know…" he went on to tell them everything that had happened previous to the meeting. "Now onto the good stuff." He took another sip of water and looked at Akatsuki's twitching eye out of the corner of his. "By studying the past activities of the opposing organization I, along with my team, have been able to learn a great deal about them, how they move, and what their objectives are. First off, the name of the organization is known as Shokaract. It is composed of the descendents of an extremist religious group banished from Earth about 120 years ago. These extremists themselves call themselves the Successors. Twenty years after their banishment from Earth, the UF bombarded Mars with nuclear warheads, destroyed the Successors' colonies, yadda yadda yadda. The goal of Shokaract and the Successors is to re-establish their colonies and seeking revenge on the Earth, the UF, and the current human population brought to Mars during the official Martian colonization programme. In short, we've got a bunch of pissed off nutbars who want to kill us all as an act of revenge and regain control of Mars."

          "And interesting tale, Detective," one of the men said. "What facts do you have to backup your _theory_?"

          "There is little documentation regarding the Successors' banishment from Earth and the destruction of their colonies. However, we managed to steal…er…borrow some information from the UF file servers on Earth," Finn replied.

          "What do you mean 'borrow'?" 

          "We kind of…er…snuck in without them knowing," Finn said, but continued before anyone could protest to the largest breach of security since the last largest breach of security, which coninsidentally had been the time Finn 'borrowed' some information on a UF soldier arrested for a murder. "So there is documented evidence of the Successor banishment, as well as video logs from Mars surveyor satellites of the assault. Naturally, the UF thought that by targeting unsuspecting colonies with nuclear weapons they would have wiped out most of the Successor population that lived on Mars, but it seems that a small group survived and has taken upon itself to exact revenge."

          "You didn't answer my question. How do you prove that the terrorists we're dealing with are these Successors?"

          "When the UF began construction at the South Pole for a scientific military installation, they made a discovery. They found a crude underground laboratory, which contained core samples from beneath the ice sheet. These samples had traces of novalite, which means the Successors were researching the properties of the substance. There's not really much alternative as to who built the abandoned facility," Finn answered. 

          "What have you found out about their knowledge of novalite?" asked Akatsuki.

          "The Successors were in the very early stages of their study of novalite, but they knew enough that had potential as two things. The first was a source of nearly perpetual energy, which could be used as a propellant or a very powerful explosive. The second was a form of spatial translocation. But you guys already know what it's capable of, so I don't think any further explanation is necessary."

          "And how exactly do you know the details of Shokaract and the Successors' current activity?" another one of them asked.

          "The UF records all basic radio transmissions made on Mars. Every radio tower is fitted with recording equipment and all transmissions are monitored for any suspicious communications, but they're not very good at it. I had all transmissions around the Utopia and South Pole areas rechecked, and discovered an unusual pattern of words, which have been decoded. They outline where the epicentre of both explosions should be and at what time they were supposed to go off."

          "Have you made any discoveries on UFOs and alien abductions?" one of them said, and they all laughed, with exception of Akatsuki. Finn scribbled something on a pad of paper. He tore the sheet off, folded it into a paper airplane, and sent it flying in the man's direction. When it landed right in front of its intended target, the man unfolded it and read what Finn had written. 'Try that again and I'll mention how you were a bed wetter until you were twelve,' it read. "No further questions," he mumbled and tore the piece of paper up.

          "How did Shokaract get the bombs inside the Antarctic station?" another one asked. "Did they have someone on the inside smuggle them in?"

          "That's not necessary for novalite based explosives. They can be translocated, or 'jumped' into any location the sender wants. So they could just jump the novalite explosives into the heart of the Antarctic station without having to put any of their own men at risk," Finn explained. "Chances are that they did the same for the Utopia Colony."

          "What are the chances of them striking again?"

          "Close to 100%."

          "What do you mean 'close'?"

          "Well, an asteroid could collide with the planet, split it in two, and destroy all life. I think that might prevent a future attack," there was silence. "They'll strike again," he added. "The only question is where."

          "I don't suppose you know where that would be," one of the men concluded. 

          "Actually," Finn hit the button on the remote he held and the screen came to life, showing a map of Mars and its colonies. "I've been looking at the pattern in which they've been operating. The Antarctic station was destroyed about forty three seconds before the Utopia Colony was. Now, we can logically assume that they won't strike the same place twice. I mean, who would blow up a crater? So, that leaves Iacon, New Wellington, Cliffjump, Convoy, South Point, and the North Pole station, and the six UF bases. New Wellington and Cliffjump are ruled out because their population isn't large enough. Convoy has a large population, but no real industry, they're more of a tourist colony, so we can count them out. The North Pole station has no real significance in comparison to the South Pole; it's more of a research facility. South Point an industrial site, but the manufacturing that takes place there serves no real military significance. So that leaves the six bases and Iacon as probable targets. Now, we can rule out four of the bases, shown here," several X's appeared over four of the marked military bases. "because they're only for security reasons, they don't have much firepower. They're there as a kind of national guard in case of emergencies, not like that helps much. Anyway, this leaves bases two and three as targets, along with Iacon, again."

          "Why target these two bases?" asked Akatsuki.

          "Because they are the primary stations from with the UF operates its Mars fleet. With all those ships, troops, and weapons in such close proximity, it's just asking to be taken out," answered Finn.

          "But the UF has sent most of its troops into orbit and the lunar station," one of the men said.

          "Which is why out of the three remaining targets, the bases are the least probable. Shokaract might know that the UF's abandoned Mars. So that only leaves one logical place for them to strike."

          "Iacon," Akatsuki concluded.

          "The most populated city and the headquarters for the Martian government branch of the UF," Finn added. 

          "If this is the case, what would you suggest we do, Detective?" one of the men asked.

          "It all comes down to the little guy, doesn't it?" Finn said to himself. "Well, I'd avoid making any public statements, you don't want to start a panic. Besides, it Iacon were to become deserted, it would just mean the other colonies would be targeted. My suggestion is to try and prevent the novalite explosives from being jumped into the city in the first place."

          "The question remains, why haven't they destroyed the city yet?"

          "They don't have any more detonators left," Finn said simply. "In order to set a novalite fragment off, you need a specific laser intensity. Too little and nothing will happen, too much and it'll just melt. Problem is that these detonators are, or were I should say, in the early stages of development and the few prototypes in existence were stolen prior to the attacks. And since they used the only two they had, they need to find more of them, or find any records explaining how to make them."

          "Thank you for your report, Detective," Akatsuki said.

          "Just one more thing," Finn added. "If and when they blow Iacon, don't expect anything to be left."

          "What do you mean?" one of the men asked.

          "They've got 65 grams left. They used 23 to blow the Utopia Colony, and it had the same effect as a hurricane. With 65, we're talking about a smouldering crater where the city used to be," Finn said as he began to walk away. "So I wouldn't think you're safe in your underground bunkers."

          "Just one second, Saotome," Akatsuki said. "If they have so much explosive left, why not divide it up and strike more than one colony?"

          "Given the fact the detonators are hard to find and even harder to build, I don't think they'd go to the trouble. Besides, what could be more devastating than killing every single person in Mars' largest city?" Finn replied as he walked through the door.

          Ryoko got up from her seat at the far end of the table, off at the very end of the room, and followed Finn. She found him sitting on a bench beside some vending machines and a can of pop in his hand, Sprite for those readers who'd like to know.

          "That could have gone better," she said as she sat down beside him.

          "I'm exhausted," Finn said, slowly sinking down the seat. 

          "Like you've had much of a break since we got here," Ryoko said, taking the can from him having a sip.

          "Not like that," he said with his hand over his eyes. "I'm sick of all this. I thought when I blew the box that everything would be fine, but it's all gone to shit again." 

          "Yeah," Ryoko said in agreement. 

          "At least Tenkawa, the Cap…Yurika, and Ruri are alright. I doubt anyone would want to blow up a pile of rubble," he said and they sat in silence and listened to the hum of the vending machines.

          "Just one question," Ryoko ventured to pose this question: "Where are the Jovians in all this? How do they fit in?"

          "I'm not entirely sure about that one, that's why I didn't mention it. But my best guess is that they were integrated into Successor society. The history's all screwed up in this world, nothing happened the way it should have."

          "Detective," Akatsuki said, coming up to Finn and Ryoko in the cafeteria. Several days had now passed from their previous meeting and Finn was coming closer and closer to a possible location for where the Successors were based. "I trust you haven't made any progress?"

          Finn took a long sip of his iced tea and tried to keep his face from falling into the sukiyaki he had in front of him. He was very tempted to douse Akatsuki's head in miso soup, but restrained himself. "Not yet," he yawned. "But I'm coming closer."

          "Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to someone," Akatsuki stepped aside and Finn could see a woman standing behind him. She wasn't exactly young, she looked to be in her 40s and kind of reminded Finn of Inez, only with brownish red hair and a softer face. "This is Doctor Tenkawa."

          Finn dropped his sticks. "Come again?"

          "I am Miyuki Tenkawa," the woman said. "I believe you know my son, Akito. He's told me an awful lot about you and your work at the police station. I'm very sorry about what happened."

          "Er…Detective Saotome," Finn clumsily introduced himself. "And this is Pilot Subaru."

          "Dr. Tenkawa is well aware of the events that have taken place and has been fully briefed on the progress you've made," Akatsuki said.

          "Yes, I'm only glad that you, Akito, and his family are alright," Miyuki said. "I heard that your fiancé was killed, I'm very sorry for your loss."

          "Ouch," Finn's brain said. He looked at Akatsuki with a slightly puzzled expression.

          "Her job is to assist you in interpreting any scientific data you find," Akatsuki said, reading Finn's face. "I reassigned her from novalite research development to your investigative team. I'll leave you to get to know one another now. I have more pressing matters to attend to," and he left.

          "I'm glad I'm finally off that research team," Miyuki said, taking a seat beside Ryoko, who sat opposite of Finn. "You wouldn't believe how boring studying pieces of rock is."

          Finn, again, dropped his sticks. "You mean Nergal has samples of novalite?"

          "That's right," Miyuki said. Just before the Antarctic base was destroyed, the military sent us some."

          "What kind of science is your speciality?" asked Ryoko, reading Finn's mind.

          "Everything really," Miyuki replied. "I was supervising director the novalite team, so I had to be qualified in almost every aspect of related science."

          "Just like Inez," Finn said to himself. "Tell me, Doctor, do you know anything about spatial anomalies in relation to dimensional and reality fluctuations?" Miyuki blinked. "Never mind," he turned back to his sukiyaki. "I'll explain later."

**Time Bomb**

          "I've got a question for you," Ryoko said. Both she and Finn were in a dimly lit computer lab. Finn was going over data while Ryoko did some calculations for him. It was very late at night and most of the facility's personnel had gone home for the night.

          Finn looked up. "What's that?"

          "If Dr. Tenkawa's been studying the novalite, why hasn't she recovered her memories?"

          "What memories?" Miyuki asked as she came into the room, a stack of binders and folders in her arms. However, before either Finn or Ryoko could begin coming up with a reply, there was a loud crash just outside the lab in the hallway. 

          Finn thanked God that He'd sent something to bail him out of _that_ situation and they all rushed out into the hall to investigate the cause of the disturbance. They found a large metal box sitting in the middle of the hallway. It was about the size of a suitcase and looked as though it had been hastily deposited there. 

          "What is it, do you suppose?" Miyuki asked. "Who would leave this thing laying around here?"

          Finn looked at Ryoko and Ryoko looked at Finn. He bent down and examined the box. It was locked tight and was made of very heavy steel. After trying a few random combinations on the computer lock, he turned things over to Ryoko, who smashed her foot as hard as she could into the thing, sending small bits and pieces of the computer flying into the air. He pulled a small penknife from his pocket and slid between the two halves of the box. Before long, he popped it open. "That's just prime," he said, looking at the sophisticated network of wires, computer parts, and mechanical pieces inside. There was a small screen with a timer counting down from five minutes. "It looks like the Successors have sent us their last present."

          "Can you disarm it?" Ryoko asked.

          Finn looked at the complicated labyrinth of wires inside the box and then looked at Ryoko. "I guess I can try, I suppose it's better than the alternative."

          "Do you need anything? Wire clippers? Screw driver?"

          "Just a sponge and a towel," Finn said under his breath as he began tracing one of the hundreds of wires strung throughout the box.

          "What is it?" asked Miyuki. Finn and Ryoko facefaulted. 

          "I'm going to ignore that," he said. "Gah! There's too much stuff in here. I can't find the main detonator power cord," he said after a minute had passed.

          "And we can't chuck it anywhere," Ryoko added as she tried to pick the box up, managing to lift it about the width of a hair off the floor. "And even if we could…"

          "It would still replace the city with a smouldering hole in the ground," Finn finished. He searched the far recesses of his brain for…well; he didn't know what he was looking for. The author suggests that it was something to do with disarming the bomb, but he supposes that he might have been regretting the curry he had for lunch. 

          "Snap out of it, Saotome," Ryoko kicked him in the stomach. "Two minutes and 19 seconds left. If you're going to pull a plan out of your ass, I suggest you stand up."

          A light bulb went off above Finn's head. "Dr. Tenkawa, you said you were working on novalite research, right?"

          "That's right. Specifically on it's being used as a power source," Miyuki replied.

          "And Nergal has samples of it?"

          "Correct,"

          "Ryoko?" 

          "Gotcha," Ryoko grabbed Miyuki's arm and took off down the corridor. "Where was your lab?" 

          "Where are you taking me?" Miyuki cried. The author suddenly realizes how hard it is to type Miyuki with any degree of speed. 

          "You guys try typing a name like that fast! Stop picking on me!" anime tears fall from the author's eyes. "The letters all on the same part of the keyboard! I've been working on this fic for months! Give me a break! Ahem, I apologize for that that brief laps of sanity, concentration, or whatever you want to call it. The author would like to thank his sponsors…the people at  * reads the cheque * the 1/800000000000000th of a cent cheque from…Elves'R'Us?" The author is then swallowed by a giant Puchuu. "Not again…oh look! Ryoko's about to say something!"

          "Where's your lab?" Ryoko asked.

          "I worked in the east wing of the research facility," Miyuki answered.

          "How do you we get there?"

          "It's in the restricted area in sub-level 16," Miyuki said. "You need to take the security elevator to sub-level 3, move down through corridor 12, pass the security clearance, and then you have to go through section 6 and access the security door where the main lab is housed."

          "In plain English?!"

          "Go right!" Miyuki was now being dragged as Ryoko bolted down the corridors. "But we'll never make it in time!"

          "Never say die!"

          Finn stared at the mess that lay in front of him. No wires had been cut, no commands had been put into the small computer build into the inside of the bomb, which had only been partially damaged by Ryoko's excellent lock picking abilities. "Only 30 seconds left. They'll never make it." The clock hit 25 seconds. "Oh boy…"

          "Halt!" an armed guard stood in Ryoko's way. "This is a restricted area, where's your security card?"

          "No time for that, G.I. Joe," Ryoko said as she pushed by him. 

          "It's alright, she's with me!" Miyuki said as they flew by.

          "I don't have to put up with this," the guard said as he took out his radio. "I've got two unauthorized units heading towards sub-level 16," he said into it. "Permission to use force is requested."

          "Permission granted," came a voice on the other end and the guard raised his gun. However, before he could fire a shot a hand grabbed his arm.

          "Not yet," came a voice.

          "But sir!" the guard protested.

          "I said let them go."

          "Yes, sir," the guard returned his gun to its holster.

          "Is he following us?" Ryoko asked.

          "No, I don't think so," Miyuki said.

          "Great. So where to next?"

          "We're almost there, keep going straight until you see a heavy security door with red lights above it," Suddenly, Ryoko skidded to a stop and dove behind a vending machine. "What are you doimgph!"

          "Don't say anything," Ryoko had her hand over Miyuki's mouth. 

          "They're over there, behind the vending machines!" came a voice.

          "Damnit," Ryoko cursed and pressed herself as far behind the corner as the limits of space and would allow.  

          "Come out and we will guarantee your safety!" the voice called as shots were fired.

          "I'll talk to them," Miyuki said. 

          "You nuts? Do you know what they'll do if they get a clear shot?"

          "I'll just…"

          "Watch," Ryoko grabbed an empty can from the recycling bin and tossed it out into the corridor. Within seconds it was turned into shreds of tin foil as the loud roar of machinegun fire ripped through the air. Ryoko felt for her gun, but was sadly disappointed when she remembered what universe she was in now. When the gunfire stopped, they heard footsteps coming closer along. Ryoko braced one foot against and both her hands on the edge of the machine and with great effort pushed it over, sending it falling into the corridor. They could hear shouts as the machine hit the floor with a great thud and pop cans rolled in every direction. Quickly, Ryoko scooped up a few and hurled them at the faces of the confused security team. Holding Miyuki's wrist with one hand, she burst into the clear and grabbed one of the guards by the arm and twisted it until he dropped his gun. She then picked up the gun and delivered a swift blow to the back of the neck, sending the man into a daze on the floor. All of this she did in the split second before anyone even realized what was happening. However, before they could get away, Ryoko heard the click of a rifle being armed and the pressure of its barrel in her back. 

          "Drop it," the man wielding the weapon said. Usually in this sort of situation, Ryoko would have ducked, grabbed his gun, and opened fire. Unfortunately, she had someone else to worry about instead of just herself. She reluctantly complied and dropped the gun on the floor. Most of the guards were trying to free themselves from under the weight of the toppled vending machine, but there were enough still upright to take her down. "Put your hands up, both of you," they, again, complied. "Do you know what kind of shit you two are in? We should just kill you both for the trouble. Just look at what you've done!" it was pretty obvious what he was referring to.

          "Oh, please, we don't have much time," Miyuki protested.

          "Quiet," he grabbed his radio and clicked it on. "We've got them, you can stand down security alert," he now turned to his fallen comrades. "You guys alright?" there was a collective groan in response. "I can't believe you're in such bad shape that just one chick was able to get the best of you."

          Their hands were cuffed and they were led off to some secret part of the facility. They were sat down at a table in a dark room with only a single light bulb hanging above them providing illumination. The guards stood around them and their commander sat on the edge of the table.

          "What were you trying to accomplish?" bad cop asked. "Who sent you?"

          "I'm trying to tell you…" 

          "Just answer the question," he interrupted Miyuki. 

          "I can't believe this is happening," Ryoko muttered, shaking her head.

          "If you cooperate, we can be lenient," good cop put his hand on Ryoko's shoulder.

          "Take it off," she said looking at his hand from the corner of her eye. "Or I'll break it off."

          "You're in no position to demand anything," bad cop said. 

          "Look, if we're going to play good cop bad cop can I talk to Scully not Mulder?" she asked. Too bad Finn wasn't there; he would have really enjoyed that one. Unfortunately for Ryoko, she didn't recall just what kind of reaction such smartass comments had. 

          "If you'll look in my pocket, you'll find…"

          "A bomb, most likely," bad cop finished for her. 

          Ryoko heaved a sigh of frustration. "Look, if you guys will just shut up and listen to us for a sec…"

          "You will not dictate my actions," bad cop interrupted again. 

          'I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him,' Ryoko's brain repeated over and over, but her hands were chained to the back of the chair, and there was little chance of her killing the most annoying character to have appeared in this fic. Bad cop stood behind her; a light bulb went off above her head. She quickly rose, lifting the chair off the floor before sitting back down, crushing the annoying interrogator's foot beneath the leg of the chair. Needless to say, he didn't find it as amusing for as satisfying as Ryoko did. 

          "Miss Subaru," Miyuki said in protest.

          "You little bitch," he said, grabbing Ryoko by the collar, who looked at him with a slight smirk as if to say 'Go ahead, try it.'

          "Futama, calm down," good cop said. 

          "Hmph," bad cop, Futama for those who didn't clue in there, threw Ryoko back down into her seat. 

          "If you're trying to prove your innocence, pulling stunts such as these isn't the best way to go," good cop said. 

          "Then will you at least listen to us?" Miyuki asked, finally able to complete a sentence. 

          "Just kill them," Futama muttered, still nursing his foot.

          "We're not going to do that," good cop said. "Please, continue."

          "We came here to get a few chunks of novalite from the research facility," Miyuki explained.

          "For what reason?"

          "We need it because…well…I don't know why. Miss Subaru, why did Detective Saotome need the novalite?" 

          "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Ryoko said. "And please stop calling me 'Miss'."

          "See? They said it themselves, they're here to steal Nergal's novalite," Futama said. 

          "Want me to break your other foot? No? Then shut up," Ryoko snapped. "Damnit, where's Saotome when you really need him?"

          "You're after Detective Saotome?" good cop asked.

          "For booting up cold! Are you guys morons or something? DO – YOU – UNDERSTAND – THE – WORDS – THAT – ARE – COMING – OUT – OF – MY – MOUTH?!"

          "Miss…sorry. Ryoko, please. This isn't helping," Miyuki said. "Look, all you need to do is…"

          "I know exactly what needs to be done," Ryoko interrupted. "This little ---CENSORED--- needs his face rearranged and I'm just the one to do it!"

          "Please, continue," good cop said to Miyuki. 

          "If you look in my coat pocket you'll find my wallet. You'll see that this is just a big misunderstanding," Miyuki finished. The other guards looked at good cop, who nodded, and one of them searched through the pockets of Miyuki's white lab coat. A few moments later he produced a small wallet and handed it to his superiors. "Look inside."

          "Member of the 'I Like Squirrels Foundation'?" good cop asked as he flipped it open. 

          "Look behind that one," Miyuki said.

          "I'm going to choose to ignore that one," Ryoko said quietly.

          "Dr. Tenkawa: Nergal Research Team. Security clearance level 5…" good cop looked at Futama. "Woops."

**How Much Time Left?**

          "Saotome!" Ryoko shouted as she ran down the corridor towards the spot they had left him earlier. "We've got some!" she rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. There was nothing there. No Finn, no box, nothing but bare, dim hallway. "Dr. Tenkawa, this is the right hallway, right?"

          "That's right," Miyuki said as she caught up to Ryoko. 

          "What's the matter?" good cop asked when he caught up, his team behind him, with exception to Futama who sat icing the foot Ryoko had crushed.

          Just then something occurred to her. "Good cop, how long were we under interrogation?"

          "About twenty minutes," good cop answered. "Why do you ask?"

          "Hold still for a sec," Ryoko said as she turned around and socked good cop in the face. 

          "Subaru!" Miyuki said in surprise and confused horror.

          "Nope, I'm not dreaming," Ryoko said to herself as she massaged her knuckles. "Sorry about that."

          "Augh," was the sound good cop made as he peeled himself out of the impression in the wall. He stooped down to pick up his hat and quickly placed it back on his head, its rim once again shading his eyes. "Can I ask what that was for?"

          "What the hell is going on?" Ryoko asked herself as she moved further down the corridor to the spot the box had been. There were a few bits and pieces of computer parts and small ends of wires laying about where the box had been, but no sign of the box itself. She looked at the clock on the wall above them. It read just past two in the morning, but it had read half past one when the box first appeared. 

          Ryoko stood right where Finn had knelt to examine the box. She paid little attention to the crunch of something beneath her feet as she looked around. It was possible that Finn had disarmed the device, but she found the room in which they had been working empty and the lights were out in the other rooms down the hall. It would have been impossible for Finn to have dragged it off somewhere; there would have been scratches in the floor, which was still shiny and almost spotless. "If this is a surprise party, he's a dead man."

          "Where did Detective Saotome go? I wonder," Miyuki broke the silence. Had she been anyone other than Akito's mother, Ryoko would have said something. She found the elder Tenkawa's naivety both mind boggling and incredibly irritating at the same time. 

          "You tell me," she answered.

          "Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean," chibi Ryoko said, standing on Ryoko's shoulder. 

          They all stood around scratching their heads, with exception to Ryoko, who stood with her arms crossed and her back against the wall in wait. 

"Aren't you the least bit worried?" asked Miyuki. It was at this time that a bright flash of light burst before them as some object was hurled out of subspace down the corridor. 

          "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" came Finn's voice as he was blown out of the air, flying down the corridor, and finally stopping when he flew face first into a filing cabinet, which toppled over and crushed him beneath it.

          Everyone made their way to the crash site, where papers were strewn everywhere and metal shards tinked as they hit the cold floor. They could see a pair of legs protruding from beneath the heavy file cabinet, twitching occasionally. 

          "At least he's still alive," Ryoko said to herself. "Hey, Saotome, you breathing in there?" she kicked the remains of the file cabinet. 

          "I think I impaled myself with my pen," came a squeak from inside.

          Ryoko and the security team hauled the broken storage unit aside and dug through the mound of papers to find Finn laying there swirly eyed. "Don't die on me now," Ryoko said as she hauled him up and dragged him back to the lab where she tossed him into a chair. His mouth hung slightly open and his eyes were still swirly.

          "Is he alright? Should we call a doctor?" Miyuki asked.

          "He'll be fine," Ryoko said as she took a seat. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened, even though they had one if it did. "So you managed to boson jump the bomb away somewhere?" Finn's head made some kind of a nodding motion. 

"What's boson jumping?" good cop asked.

"I'm guessing it's some kind of transdimensional fold," Miyuki said. It was moments such as these that she truly earned the degree hanging in her office. As to why Finn was actually alive, only Ryoko knew the answer to that.

"How'd you manage to get back?" Finn's head continued nodding. "I guess it's understandable," she said to herself, shaking her head, and turning to the computer. "Yo, good cop, c'mere for a sec. Man, the author really needs to give you a name."

"I've been busy!" the author cried. "You'll see why he doesn't have a name yet. Just be patient. Good reader," the author throws the reader a bone. 

"Can you access any security files from this thing?" she asked

"Yes, but…"

"Do it," Ryoko vacated the seat for good cop, who sat down and began working away. After a few minutes of keys clacking and the mouse clicking he managed to bring up the security camera's view of the area just outside of the lab, where the box had been jumped. "Go forward a bit, up until the part Dr. Tenkawa and I leave," they all crowded around and watched as Ryoko took off, dragging Miyuki behind her. Finn sat and sifted through the box and pulled a few wires. He then stared at the device, more specifically the timer, and seemed to be quiet worried. He mumbled to himself, they could see his lips move, but since the camera had no audio it was impossible to hear what he was saying. After a while passed in a few seconds, Finn quickly began ripping and tearing wires out, seemingly at random. It was pretty obvious to everyone he wasn't concerned about setting the device off, since it was going to blow anyway. However, there did appear to be a method to his madness, for he pulled a small container out of the box. Wasting no time, he took his knife and tried to take the thing apart. There was still a long cord attaching the container to the box, but it looked to be coated in a steel skin, to which Finn's knife was no match. He tried everything that immediately jumped to mind; throwing it against the ground, slamming it in the door, and so on. Finally in desperation he hauled the larger metal box off the ground, with great effort, and slammed it down against the smaller box. Nothing. He tried it again, but still nothing. He continued bashing the box against the container again and again, but did little more than cause a few dents in it. They couldn't tell what the timer was at, but they could make out the word 'shit' as he sat back down and examined the container. Even though they knew the final outcome, the small audience still held its breath, with exception to Ryoko, who had seen Finn pull victory out of a hat from situations that seemed even more hopeless than this. In frustration, he tossed the container aside and sent it skidding across the floor for as far as its cord would allow it. Surprisingly enough, a piece of the container's fell off. Finn stared at this for a moment before retrieving the thing and looking through it. It was difficult to say what he found inside, the camera being mounted across the hall, but he did produce a small object from inside. It was small, no bigger than a pebble, but had a larger attachment connected to it. To everyone's surprise, Finn ignored it and, to add to the surprise, he placed the pebble on the floor and bashed the box against it. He stopped when the pebble split into several pieces. Quickly, he scooped up two of the larger ones. It was at this time that the camera became grainy and it was impossible to see what was happening. Then, all of a sudden, the screen cleared and neither Finn nor the box were anywhere to be found. They then saw themselves on the walking around outside the door to the lab looking around only a few moments ago.

"Ugh," Finn groaned. 

"I don't get it," good cop said. "I don't understand why the video file crapped out on us. Where'd he go?"

"He boson jumped," Ryoko said offhandedly, more to herself than to anyone else.

"It's quite possible that the rapid discharge of subspace particles caused a temporary failure in the camera's electrical components," Miyuki explained, everyone looked at her. "You don't earn a degree in theoretical physics for nothing."

"Alright Saotome, we've given you enough of a nap time, wake up," Ryoko said, lifting Finn's head up, but he stared off into space. "Hey," she said in good cop's direction. "You work with people, why don't you take a shot at it?"

"I can try," good cop said, rising from his seat and moving over to where Finn sat partially comatose. He grabbed a small flashlight from his belt and shone it in Finn's eyes. "Are you sure he's not dead?"

"I'm sure. Just wake him up."

Good cop poked Finn with his pen, shone the light in his eyes, dumped water on his head, even fired his gun into the floor, which made Miyuki jump like a caffeine high chipmunk, but still, nothing seemed to bring him out of it. "I'm out of ideas." 

"I really didn't want to have to resort to this," Ryoko said as she broke one of the legs off one of the few wooden chairs in the room. "Here," she handed it to Miyuki.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" asked Miyuki in her usual naïve way. 

"Take a shot at him," Ryoko said simply.

"I couldn't," Miyuki backed up a few steps.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"I'm more worried about him," Miyuki said, glancing in Finn's direction.

"Don't worry about it," Ryoko said again.

"Why not him?" implying good cop, "Or you?"

"He'd probably kill good cop here and he wouldn't even make a move to stop me, so that leaves you. Come on, hurry up."

"I really don't…"

"Do it," Ryoko said sternly. 

"Here goes," Miyuki walked up tentatively up to Finn and struck him lightly on the side of the head. 

"Put some muscle behind it," Ryoko said. "Come on, don't wuss out on us now."

"I'll try," Miyuki said, but looked uncertain. She looked at Ryoko, who nodded, and then at the drooling Finn. "I'm sorry," she said to him as she took a baseball stance. She hesitated for a moment before swinging the piece of wood into the side of Finn's face. However, the wood never touched its intended target area. 

"See what I mean?" Ryoko asked when Finn caught the wood and opened his eyes. "Hey Saotome, welcome back to the world of moving parts."

"I'm getting kind of tired of saving the world all the time," Finn groaned. There were cuts all over his body, his clothes were torn, and he looked like he had been beaten with a hockey stick. "At least it's done now. No more novalite, neomite, CCs, whatever you want to call it, they don't have any more. Maybe I can finally get some sleep," he added with a yawn.

"Looks like you were cutting it close there. Jump the second after the thing blew?" Ryoko asked, sitting on the edge of the desk beside Finn. 

"You mean he actually boson jumped?" Miyuki cried. How is that possible? All jump experiments have proven fatal for the test subject. This is incredible; I can't wait to tell Mr. Akatsuki!"

"Please don't make me kill you," Finn hung his head and shook it.

"Who cares about him," Ryoko said. "Where'd you jump to anyway?"

"The only place I could think of where it wouldn't do much damage," Finn replied.

"What do you mean 'jump'?" good cop asked. "What are you people talking about,"

Finn lifted his head up and looked at the bewildered security officer. "Hey, Aoi, what's the good word?"

"Aoi?" Ryoko asked. She quickly grabbed good cop's hat and tossed it into a corner and, sure enough, there was a confused looking Jun beneath it. "Oh…my…" she didn't finish.

"What are you people talking about?" he asked again.

Finn opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. "You know what? You don't want to know. Just forget it,"

**Checkmate**

          "So where'd you jump to?" Ryoko asked as she and Finn walked down the dark, empty corridor in the direction of their quarters. They had left Miyuki and Jun under strict instructions not to let anyone know of the night's events, especially Akatsuki.

          "That's the last thing we need," Finn had explained. "Aoi, delete the video logs from tonight. Dr. Tenkawa, you can tell Mr. Akatsuki that we've disposed of the remaining novalite, that there's nothing to worry about," although, Miyuki seemed to excited by Finn's successful boson jump that he wouldn't put it passed her to forget his instructions. She kept pestering him with questions, which he tried his best to dodge. He did have to admit that his arrival back to the hallway outside the lab was due to the time delay created by the flux of bose particles.

          "Like I said, the only place where it wouldn't a lot of damage," Finn replied. 

          "And where might that be?"

          "The pole. So instead of a small crater in place of the Antarctic station used to be, there's a big crater."

          "So it's over," Ryoko said. "There's no more novalite left for the Successors and the mining facility at the Antarctic base's been destroyed,"

          "Not quiet," Finn said quietly, but Ryoko didn't seem to hear. 

          They continued on in silence in the dim light. They heard it before they saw it, the sound of someone clapping his hands in a slow, rhythmic beat. They pressed forward and the sound grew louder. Finally, they saw the source, a shadowy figure leaning against the wall. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the black silhouette belonged to. 

          "Bravo!" came the all-too familiar voice. "Well done, Detective, well done." 

          "It's over, _Mr._ Akatsuki," Finn said. "The novalite's gone, Iacon's in no danger."

          "A job well done, Detective," Akatsuki praised, which made Finn's skin crawl. "You too, Subaru. I commend you both for your efforts."

          "If you don't mind, we're both kind of tired," Finn said. "It's past my bedtime anyway."

          "Rest you deserve and rest you shall have, my friend," Akatsuki grinned and Finn suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He noticed Ryoko fall to the floor and he quickly swung around to face whatever new threat lay behind him. A small group of security officers had formed behind them, some holding batons, some holding guns. 

          "It's going to take a whack on the head to take me down," Finn shook his head, grabbing a baton away from the closest guard. However, they all came at him at once and quickly overpowered him. 

          "Put him to sleep," Akatsuki said, standing over Finn, who was held to the floor by six men. One of the guards held and instrument to Finn's neck and pulled the trigger. Finn all of a sudden felt a wave of exhaustion fall over him. His eyes began to droop, but he still struggled, though it was in vain.

          "You show remarkable concentration, Lieutenant," Akatsuki grinned. "I really didn't want to have to drug you, but you've left me no choice."

          "Not tired…" Finn fought to stay awake. "Didn't get a bedtime story…or water…or…" but it was too much. He slipped into the uneasy shadow of sleep and saw the world go black around him.

          Finn's eyes slowly opened. His head pounded and his vision was blurry. He tried to move, but found himself either restrained or too tired to lift his limbs, or a combination of both. Slowly, his vision cleared and he surveyed his surroundings. He was seated in the narrow confines of a chair. When he tried to move, he found mobility and impossibility, for his arms, legs, hands, feet, and even neck were restrained tightly against the seat. However, much to his surprise and disappointment, no one was there to greet his return to the world of consciousness. He tried to get a better look at his surroundings, but found that the restraint against his neck prevented him from doing so. There was no one that he could see present, and the only noise was the constant roar of the helicopter engine.

          It was some time later, minutes, perhaps hours, that Finn felt the craft touch down and heard the sound rotor begin to die. There were other sounds now, the sounds of people moving around, and he could see them move towards the front of the helicopter from the corner of his eye. However, no one seemed to be particularly interested in Finn. 

          Finally, a few people crowded around him and he felt the seat being raised off the floor and carried outside, which blasted him with a burst of warm air. The light outside was dim and the mix of warm and cold wind bit his exposed face. It was a strange sensation, for he felt small wisps of warm air brush against his face. His seat was carried for a few minutes before it was finally set down, and Finn opened his eyes. There was a curious mixture of black and white and the dim light crept over the horizon. 

          "Have a nice rest?" came a voice that he knew all-too well. "Please forgive the restraints. Knowing you, Saotome, chains simply wouldn't be enough."

          "Why didn't you just kill me?" Finn answered. "Then I wouldn't have to see your pretty-boy face anymore."

          "Haven't changed a bit," Akatsuki grinned.

          "Where are we anyway?"

          "You should know this place well enough," Akatsuki looked around him. "This used to be the south-Martian icecap."

          "What do you mean 'used' to be?" 

          "Look around you, Saotome!"

"I'm not in the mood for your games," Finn said angrily.

"The miles of ice that once covered this land have been melted away," Akatsuki continued. "All those millions of tonnes of ice, gone, melted away," he tossed a small stone in the air, a stone that Finn didn't have to guess where it came from. "The ice that once blocked my way is gone now. While it was still here, it would have taken months to retrieve even the smallest of samples. But that's all irrelevant now. And to think I have you to thank!"

The realization of what Finn's actions had caused struck him like bullet. 

"Face it, Saotome," Akatsuki laughed. "You were careless. You played right into my hands and were the perfect pawn. I needed you to jump the last bomb here as an 'act of courage' to melt the ice and prove boson jumping is still possible."

"So why not kill me and spare me your babblings?" Finn asked.

"Unfortunate as it is, I still need you." 

Finn smirked. "What makes you think I'm going to help you?" it came to no surprise when a chair carrying a restrained Ryoko was placed beside Akatsuki. There was a band of tape across her mouth and a large purple spot above her right cheek.

"Let me guess, 'why not come up with something more original?'"

 "That comes to mind," Finn muttered. "So what's the deal? I cooperate and Ryoko lives? I don't cooperate and she dies?"

"You have a far too jaded view of the world, my friend," Akatsuki shook his head. "You and I know very well that if I kill her, you won't cooperate, and that gets us nowhere. No no, my friend. You will cooperate and Miss Subaru here will be quite safe from any physical harm."

"And if I refuse? You know as well as I do that it's going to take a lot more than a few bruises to phase her."

Akatsuki walked over and rested his elbow on Finn's seat. "Well, you see, I employ first-rate soldiers, for obvious reasons. They are well trained, disciplined, and very well paid. Trouble is that they work long hours and don't have much time to socialize."

"Get to the point."

"These soldiers don't have the privilege of regular female company that you and I do, which leads to certain problems with moral," Akatsuki continued. "You see where I'm going, don't you?"

"You son of a bitch," Finn tried to tear Akatsuki's throat from his neck, but found himself unable to do so, surprise surprise. 

"And here I always thought you were against killing, but I'm glad you understand," Akatsuki grinned. "But, of course, you can avoid such an unfortunate scenario if you want to. It's up to you."

"And what exactly do you want me to do?" 

"Unfortunate as it may seem, you, Saotome, are the only one who has actually managed to successfully boson jump and return alive, in this reality anyway. You also seem to have quite a bit of knowledge regarding CCs and their properties. Even Dr. Tenkawa was surprised, and she was the one who spearheaded our research! So killing you would simply be a waste." Finn remained silent. "Yes, it was for nothing," Akatsuki said, reading Finn's mind. "By destroying the original jump computer you've only helped further my ambitions."

"How much are they paying you?"

"What do you mean?" 

"You know what I'm talking about. How much are the Successors paying you? Let's see, enough novalite to blow the Utopia Colony, the Antarctic base, and melt the remaining icecap near the pole. My guess is that it doesn't come cheap."

Akatsuki didn't seem all that surprised by Finn's intuitiveness. "Nothing, actually. I'm not being paid with money. It can only go so far before people become suspicious. Besides, what would I need with money? I already have enough to buy Mars five times over. Besides, they're not the ones paying. Nergal has had, how shall I put this, certain financial ties with Shokaract? I'm after a far greater prize."

"Power," Finn concluded. 

"Exactly! Well done, Lieutenant, still as sharp as ever. The Successors are remarkable businessmen and there's quite a lot in store for me when their takeover of Mars is successful."

"Still the same old stupid Akatsuki," Finn muttered. "World domination eh? Good luck. So what does this have to do with me, anyway?"

"Simply put, I need you to activate the novalite deposits. You know that it's as useless as sand if it's not active. Why not activate it myself, you ask? The detonators used to ignite the novalite could also be used for other bose particle-based reactions. Unfortunately, the last one was destroyed earlier this morning and the Successors inadvertently destroyed their plans when they destroyed the Utopia Colony. It's very difficult and time consuming to research and make new ones. Why would I when I can have you do it for me?"

"And how do you propose I do that? It wasn't exactly easy activating enough to jump here. How am I supposed to activate a frickin' continent of it?"

Akatsuki motioned to someone behind Finn and a large truck was moved around and parked on the exposed novalite. Men hopped out of the back carrying jackhammerlike devices and began pounding away at the rock. The truck's trailer unfolded, revealing a portable laboratory. At the centre of this construct was a cube encased in Plexiglas. A single cord protruded from the cube, which connected to the computers inside the lab.

"The jump computer," Finn ground his teeth. 

"Remarkable, isn't it? Primitive in comparison the original, but since you destroyed that reality, this will have to do." 

It was at this time that someone placed a metal collar around Finn's neck. Too add to his surprise, he was freed from the restraints. His initial instinct was to make a run for Ryoko, but before he could do so his head seared with pain and his vision turned red. 

"Wonderful," Akatsuki said, standing over him. The collar sparked and hummed as Finn rolled on the ground in agony. "I suggest you start working. My men can be somewhat impatient at times, and we wouldn't want to see anything happen to Miss…Pilot, I should say, Subaru," he kicked Finn in the stomach. "Come on, time to get to work."

Finn brought himself to his knees and, finally, to his feet. He was led over to the lab and pushed into a seat in front of a computer. Akatsuki stood behind him, holding a small remote device, which was obviously used to activate the collar, and watched.

It was pretty clear to Finn what needed to be done. In order for the novalite to be of any use, it needed a catalyst to activate it. And only Finn knew well enough how novalite worked to do so. A few techies scurried about, but most of the attention was focused at Finn.

"Tell me," he asked. "Is this system integrated into the net?"

"Why do you ask?" Akatsuki asked suspiciously. 

"This system doesn't have enough capacity to process the novalite activation programme. With what we've got here, it would take years to activate all of this; we could only do it about two kilos at a time." 

"Is that true?" Akatsuki asked one of the techies. 

"I'm not sure, sir," the techie replied. "This is all untested equipment, but he could be right, we might not have enough processing power to do this all at once."

"And what is your suggestion, Soatome?"

"My suggestion is to use the global satellite network and borrow processing power from any computers currently available, such as file servers, networks, blah blah blah."

Akatsuki hit the button on the remote and sent Finn to the floor in agony. "And now?"

"Same as before," Finn choked, Akatsuki hit the button again. 

"Now?"

"Same," Finn wheezed.

Akatsuki looked at the writhing Finn, from whom smoke rose. "Very well. Doctor," he said, referring to the techie. "Give him access, but watch him." He hit the button again. "Closely."

After a few minutes Finn was able to pull his smoking body from the cold floor of the lab and back into his chair. For the South Pole it was unusually warm. Nobody around was dressed in heavy coats, but rather standard military issue. Finn concluded that the blast from the novalite earlier had melted the ice and heated the ground and that heat was now radiating out around them. However, Finn's heat came from the electrifying shocks delivered by the collar. There was no time to think about that though, he had work to do, whether he liked it or not. 

The techie who was known only as Doctor hovered behind Finn and watched as he rapidly put commands into the computer. Windows popped up by the second and the text imputed flashed across the screen faster than could be read. Doctor swallowed slightly as he began to fall behind, unable to keep up with Finn's pace. Finn grinned slightly as he noticed this, but kept one eye on the screen and the other on Ryoko, who remained retrained and surrounded by soldiers. There was no doubt in his mind that Akatsuki would follow through with his threats. 

"Damnit!" he said, slamming his hands down on the keyboard in frustration. 

"What's the problem?" Akatsuki asked.

"The novalite's too cold for the computer to tap into its structural matrix. We need to heat it up so the signal won't be distorted by the cold,"

"Doctor?" Akatsuki turned to him. "Is that correct? It seems pretty warm out here to me."

"Y…yes sir," he answered. He didn't really know whether Finn was being truthful or not, he had lost track with what he had been doing and was hopelessly confused, but feared to voice his failure for fear of loosing his job, or worse. "He's quite right. Even with the heat from the blast, the subsurface minerals are too cold."

Akatsuki seemed to turn the possibilities around in his head for a few moments. "What do you need to get the novalite sufficiently warmed?"

"The whole area doesn't have to be heated, only a small section of about ten or twelve cubic metres," Finn noticed Akatsuki's thumb move in the direction of the button. "And you can torture me as much as you want; my answer won't change." This seemed to perturb Akatsuki, but only for a moment. He sent Finn to the floor again, sparks leaping from the fallen soldier's body.

"I'm not up to any of your tricks, Lieutenant," he said. "Watch him," he ordered Doctor and the guards. "Make sure he doesn't try anything."

"Let's go," one of the guards said as he hauled Finn off the floor. "What do you need?"

"Some aloe and an ice pack for starters," Finn coughed. "Yo, Doc, what do you have in terms of laser optics and energy converters?" 

**An Hour Later**

          "Alright," Finn said as he plugged some cables into the computer. "We're ready," he placed a large device on the desk. It was about the size of a watermelon and looked like the result of some kind of horrible scrap yard accident. 

          "What is it?" Akatsuki asked. 

          "It's a laser energy converter," Doctor explained, trying to prove that he was not a total dumbass. "It will transmit enough heat energy into the ground to warm the novalite up to a suitable temperature for activation. It uses a laser…" 

          "Will it work? I trust that you oversaw its construction down to the last screw? I wouldn't want any unforeseen explosions."

          "I assure you, there is nothing dangerous about it," Doctor beamed and Finn picked up the heavy construct and held it under one arm.

          "Hold it, Saotome," Akatsuki said and he looked at one of the guards. "Take it and put it where it needs to go."

          "Yes, sir," the guard said and he grabbed the converter from Finn, and fell to his knees.

          "What's the matter?"

          "This…this thing weighs a tonne!" the guard grunted as struggled to lift it. With great effort he hauled it off the floor and set it down on the exposed novalite.

          "Hurry up, Saotome. Destiny awaits me," Akatsuki looked at Finn. "What are you doing?"

          "Just got something in my eye," he answered. "Anyway, it's all ready. Shall I start?"

          "Yes, hurry up," Akatsuki snapped.

          "Yes, _sir_," Finn said, rubbing his eyes. He hit the icon on the computer and the converter activated. It began with a low hiss, which began to grow in pitch and intensity. There was a loud crack and a blinding light exploded from the device. The light vanished a split second later, but was followed by another crack and another flash of light, this one more powerful than the last. 

          "What are you doing, Saotome?!" Akatsuki shouted, still blinded by the first burst of light, holding his hands over his eyes.

          "Don't worry," Finn replied, his hands still covering his eyes. "This is all part of the sequence." It was too risky to make a dive for the remote with ever brightening flashes of blinding intensity exploding from the ground. He could run the risk of blinding himself in such an attempt. Thankfully, Ryoko had noticed Finn covering his eyes and had shut hers tight. 

          The converter let out another ear splitting crack followed by an even more intense eruption of light. This time, however, it shot a thick beam of light into the sky, which immediately began to flicker in a series of rapid flashes. 

          "Is it over?" Akatsuki asked when the converter seemed to go quiet. 

          "That's about it," Finn eyed the remote, but the risk of the converter starting up again was still a possibility. He didn't have the time to perfect the 'bugs' he had worked into the device. Akatsuki held the remote in one hand while he rubbed his burning eyes with the other. This was his chance. Quickly, he leapt out of his seat and dove at Akatsuki, tackling him down to the floor. However, the device still hung within Akatsuki's grasp. There was a small cord around his wrist that tied the remote to him that Finn had failed to see. Quickly, Akatsuki slammed his thumb down on the button reduced Finn to a twitching ball of smoking flesh. It was as though the shocks were doubled in intensity each time and it was getting closer and closer to Finn's breaking point.

          "Not smart," Akatsuki said as he hit the button again. Finn felt as though he was on fire, on both the inside and out. He could hear the searing in his ears from the energy that shot through his body. This continued for several minutes. Each time Finn recovered from one shock, Akatsuki would deliver another, more painful one. "Well, what have you got to say for yourself now?" He kicked Finn in the ribs. "Hmm? Nothing to say?" He kicked him again and hauled him up by his neck. "I should have known better than to place even the smallest degree of trust in you. Well guess what? Now you've gone and pissed me off. Guards!" he said into his radio. "Do whatever you wish with _her_, I don't care anymore. Kill her if you like, but make sure you have some fun with her first."

          "Wait," Finn wheezed. 

          "Why should I?" Akatsuki demanded. "Why should I give a rodent like you another chance?"  
          "The novalite…" he wheezed again. "The novalite's active, but still in an unstable form," he paused and weakly took in a few quick breaths of air. "Without a counter programme, it'll…

          "Will? Will what?" 

          "It'll blow, taking this whole planet with it," he choked. "Novalite needs to be activated and then put into a stable form so that it won't chain-react and detonate at random."

          "Why should I trust you? You've already tested my patience as far as it can go."

          "Sir, come here, quickly. You've got to see this," Doctor said, looking at the computer screen.

          "Is something wrong, Doctor?"

          "Yes, sir. You have to see this!"

          "See? I told you," Finn wheezed.

          "Sir!" 

          "Will you be quiet!?" Akatsuki shouted at Doctor. "I already know what's going on, you don't have to tell me what I already know." He turned back to Finn. "Why should I trust you?"

          "Do you think I'd let Ryoko come to that kind of harm?" Finn said weakly. 

          "That's so cute," Akatsuki smirked. "But how do I know this is nothing more than a transparent ploy to save your own hide?"

          "Why would I want the planet to blow up? You heard it yourself, the good Doctor said something was wrong," Finn said.

          "Is that true, Doctor? Is there something wrong here?"

          "Yes sir, but…"

          "How serious?"

          "Very serious, you have to come and take a look," Doctor said urgently.

          "How much time would you give us?"

          "Ten minutes at the most, we have to stop it! They're…"

          "Quite!" Akatsuki boomed. "I still fail to see why I should trust you." 

          "Is that a gamble you're willing to take?" Finn countered. Akatsuki searched Finn's half closed eyes.

          "Eight minutes, sir!" Doctor said frantically. "After that, it'll be too late!"

          "What's it going to be? I know I'm dead no matter which way you slice it, so why don't you do something decent for once in your life and spare those millions," Finn wheezed, almost at the level of a whisper. From the corner of his eye he saw Ryoko and, to his relief, the guards had paused when they heard his weak plea for a moment.

          "Do it," Akatsuki dropped Finn in the chair in front of the computer. "How much time?"

          "Only six minutes," Doctor said. "I can't stop it!"

          "Move aside," Finn pushed Doctor out of the way and began furiously typing and clicking away with a reserve of energy he didn't even know he had.

          "But sir, you don't understand," he said.

          "Be quiet," Akatsuki ordered.  

          "It's no good," Finn shook his head. "The computers can't keep up with the fluctuation energy parameters. This thing's useless," he smashed the keyboard with his fist. The monitor fizzled out and died, but the computer continued to run.

          "What does this mean? We're all doomed?"

          "I didn't say that," Finn said, starring at the broken keyboard in front of him. "I can do it manually."

          "How?" Akatsuki demanded with unhindered frustration and urgency in his voice.

          Finn held up his right fist. "With this."

          "Four minutes left," Doctor said in a panic. 

          "Do it."

          Finn leapt from the chair, over the side of the lab and onto the novalite plain. He ran in the direction of one of the massive jackhammers that had pounded its way into the rock earlier. 

          "Stop!" came a voice and a shot was fired. Finn fell to the ground, blood exploding out his back. "Sir, he just tried to escape, I took him down."

          Ryoko tried desperately to crane her neck around to see what happened, but could see nothing in the direction the shot had been fired. 

          "Looks like your boyfriend's not going to be around to see this," one of the guards snickered. 

          "You idiot!" Akatsuki furiously struck the guard who had fired, knocking him to the ground. "Doctor," he seized the snivelling man by the collar and hoisted him off the ground. "Can anything be done?"

          "It's too late, sir, by now they'll have…"

          "Damnit!" he threw the pitiful man to the ground and kicked the guard in the stomach ferociously. When the guard's pitiful whimpers for mercy finally died, Akatsuki walked over to where Finn's body had fallen.

          There were spatters of blood around the novalite behind him and a thick pool oozed out from beneath his body. Akatsuki used his foot and rolled Finn over onto his back. The hole in his chest seeped with blood and his eyes stared blankly into the sky. 

           Akatsuki sank to the ground and stared at the limp body that lay before him. Time seemed to stop all together. He could feel the cool breeze of the air and the warmth radiating from the stone beneath him. Then, like a madman, he burst into a fit of laughter. A cluster of guards and techies drifted over and formed a half circle around him, all staring in confused panic. "I'll take him down with me!" he said in hysterical laughter. "I'll take him down with me! He'll actually stay dead this time! There's no going back, I've finally got you! Even if it meant destroying myself in the process, I finally got you," he nudged Finn's body with his foot. "Nothing to say for yourself now?" his nudge became a kick. "No smartass remarks? No stupid jokes? Nothing?"

          "Sir…" one of the guards stepped forward.

          "I don't care about the CCs anymore!" Akatsuki said, grabbing the guard by the throat. "I don't care about that, this…this is almost better. You could shoot, poison, stab, slice, beat, or blow him up as much as you wanted, but the roach kept on crawling away. Scurrying away into his dark little corners. I could step on him as much as I wanted and still see his tiny legs twitching away, but now! Oh, look at him now!" he paused for a moment, laughing to himself as he looked at the body. "My good Doctor, how much time have we left?"

          "Two minutes, sir," Doctor replied.

          "And nothing can be done?"

          "No sir, he's destroyed the monitor and the controls. We have no way of getting back into the system before the…" he stopped short when Akatsuki burst out in another fit of mad laughter. 

          He pushed his way past the crowd that had formed and spun Ryoko's seat around. "Stand aside!" he said insanely joyful. He ripped the tape from Ryoko's mouth and undid the strap pinning her neck back. "I suppose you can guess who this idiot," he kicked the guard, who lay beside the chair. "who this idiot fired at?"

          "Doesn't take a rocket scientist," Ryoko spat at him.

          Akatsuki brought his face level with hers. "I don't really know what he saw in you," he said, brushing Ryoko's hair back before he planted his lips on hers. Ryoko said nothing, but wrenched her head back before slamming it back into his skull, sending him stumbling back in a daze. "Lively little bitch, isn't she?" he laughed. "Doctor, how far does the clock wind down?"

          …to be continued in Act 11

                             **End of **Act 10****


	11. Enter the Pilot: Act 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico or any of the characters appearing in the television anime series or manga. This fanfiction is meant purely to entertain. So please don't sue me, I'm not worth it. I openly admit that I don't own Nadesico, and I'm not trying to pass this off as a completely original story. Also, I don't own Golden Boy or Transformers, but I do use a few lines from both and a lot of mecha from Transformers, but I do own the characters Finn Saotome, Yumi Yoshino, Sanoske/Sakura Hashima, Mr. Noda, Mrs. Noda, and I think that's about it. If you want pictures of the mecha, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundwave100@hotmail.com Thanks!  
Act 11  
  
Why No Peace?  
  
Finn slowly opened his eyes, but saw only black around him. He turned his head to the right, but saw only black around him. He turned his head to the left, but saw only black around him. It was impossible to tell whether his eyes were simply refusing to cooperate or that black was the only thing about him. He couldn't see himself when he raised his hands to his face to rub the weariness from his eyes, nor did he feel any contact when he should have. There was nothing, not even himself, nothing. The peaceful sleep from which he awoke slipped away from him; he could not rest any longer. He wasn't particularly concerned or frightened at such an experience. It's not like it was the first time he'd woken up dead. Time passed, a few seconds, maybe hours or days, or maybe weeks, it was impossible to tell. It seemed like forever passed in the blink of an eye. In that same instant, there was a small prick of light before him. It was impossible to see by looking directly at it, it was so small. It was only by looking away from it did one notice the contrast between the blackness and the white. The pinprick grew slowly but steadily; swirling vortex of light swallowing the darkness, consuming it and bathing the universe in a bright white essence. Finn made no effort to stop the blackness from being swallowed into the white, nor did he make any effort to embrace it. To him it was just another thing, one more thing he'd lived to see. But wait, a thought struck him. Could he be dead? He wondered. This was nothing like his pervious visits with death. There was no cliff, no blue abyss, no lush green grass beneath his feet, no gentle breeze rustling through his hair. There was nothing, nothing but white. More time passed and Finn's frustration grew with each second that ticked by. He was there, he knew he was, but he wasn't. There was nothing. "What is it you want from me?" he tried to scream, to whom he did not know, but no voice escaped him. In reply, a vidwindow appeared in front of him. "Continue? Y/N" it read. He tried to touch the window, but found himself coming no closer, nor further, to the window. "Yes!" he tried to say. "Continue!" "Continue? Y/N" the window blinked at him. "I said continue!" "Continue? Y/N" "Why are you doing this to me?" he tried to say to no one in particular. "Am I dead?" "Input: Am I dead? Received," the window read. "Death is the naturally occurring state of non-living. To be not alive is to be dead." "So what does that make me?" "Input: So what does this make me? Received. Input irrelevant." Finn tried to smash his fist through the window. "I'm not in the mood for this," he said angrily. "Tell me who you are!" "Input Insufficient. Please revise." "I don't have time for this!" "Time. Time is irrelevant. Time has no meaning. Time is the simple chronological order of space, time has no driving force." "Useless!" "Useless. Useless, to be without use or purpose." "Shut up! Just shut up!" Finn swung at the window again and, surprisingly, connected with something. The window fizzled and split into thousands of smaller windows, which surrounding Finn in a narrow column stretching infinitely above and below him. "Why now? Why did it have to be now?" "Input irrelevant." the windows blinked at him. "I'd say it's pretty relevant!" had he a body he would have sunk to his knees. "A minute," he said quietly. "I just needed one more minute. "Minute: a minute is a unit of time." "I'm not in the mood for your games! Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?!" "What is it you want?" the window printed in very small font. Finn struggled to focus on the miniscule letters. "WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?" the windows said in giant letters, which swirled around him, encompassing him within a sphere of spinning windows. One window stayed stationary in front of him, the text blinking on its screen, while the others swirled around him and displayed memories from his life. He could only see them in quick glances and they were only visible for a faction of a second. "Why is this happening again?" Finn tried to shut his eyes, but found he could not do so; there were no eyes to close. "A deed once done cannot be undone," the window read. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Only you can truly think yourself. Now, you must think on your own," the window showed a lock. "Thanks a lot," he muttered and tried to reach the screen, but, of course, didn't make it. For a long time he just stared at the screen. There was no way to touch it, after all, what would he touch it with? "Idiot," came a voice; the windows stopped swirling and formed a large circle around him. Ruri's face appeared on the windows circling him. "So what do you suggest I do then?" Finn demanded. "Idiot." "Stop it. I don't need my own stupidity shoved down my throat." "Idiot," Finn remained silent. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot." "Stop." "Idiot." "STOP!" "Idiot." "I said stop!" he shouted and tried to swing at the windows and Ruri fell silent. "Why are you doing this to me?" "Why not you?" "Why can't this all just end?" "Why should it end?" "Ruri.why?" "I can't tell you," she replied. "But I can collect the data for you." They were standing on the bridge of the Nadesico. Ruri sat in front of the computer terminal while Finn stood behind her. "Omoikane, search all libraries. Prepare complete analysis." "Searching," the window read. "Search finished. Results: 0" "What's that mean?" "Of all people," Ruri said gravely. "I thought you would understand." "I'm not sure what I know anymore," Finn sighed, staring at the floor. The bridge seemed unusually cold. The computers hummed away with an exceedingly high pitch that bothered Finn's ears. "Everything seems so.so unreal." "Exactly," Ruri said. "Hmm?" The bridge disappeared and everything returned to the endless white. The window showing the lock was still there and the other windows, which had shown Ruri's face, returned to flashing memories as they revolved around him. "Of all people, I thought you would understand," her voice echoed. "I'm not sure what I know anymore," Finn's voice followed. "Everything seems so.so unreal." Finn raised his hand, and it was there. "Exactly," he finished and placed his hand on the lock.  
  
Don't Give Up So Easily  
  
"My good Doctor," Akatsuki said. "How much time do we have?" "30 seconds," Doctor replied miserably. "Give or take." "The end always takes so long," Akatsuki shook his head. "We're talking loony bin here people," the author said. "Quiet, you're in the way of the spotlight." Finn's body convulsed violently, drawing everyone's attention away from nutbar boy. There was total silence as they stared and waited for any other signs of life. Finn convulsed again and coughed the blood out of his lungs. Slowly, he rolled himself back onto his stomach and looked around. He could make out people standing around him. Ahead of him he saw one of the jackhammers, pieces of novalite scattered around it. It wasn't far, five or six meters. With agonizing effort he grabbed onto the rock ahead of him and pulled himself forward a few inches. He stopped for a moment before crawling forward another few inches, slowly in the direction of the jackhammer. "Sir.?" Doctor asked in nervously. "Remarkable," Akatsuki grinned. "But he's not going to be the hero, not this time!" he ran forward and delivered a forceful kick into Finn's side, sending him rolling across the stone, a trail of blood following his path. "Saotome!" Ryoko called over to Finn, who lay on the ground, curled up in a ball as he regained the breath that had been knocked out of him by Akatsuki's kick. "You're not going to come back, not this time! I'm going to make sure you stay down, even if I have to tear you limb from limb!" Akatsuki said as he hauled Finn up by the neck and tossed him to the ground, sending him rolling another few feet. Finn's face was contorted in pain as he tried to regain himself, but Akatsuki kicked him again, sending him rolling across the rock until his back slammed hard against something. Finn clawed at the ground in search of some handhold he could use to drag himself away, but all he found were loose pieces of novalite. "Cut a wolf's head off and it still has the power to bite, isn't that what they say?" Akatsuki said as he stood over the barely living Finn. "We'll just have to see if that theory holds true." He grabbed one of the longer shards of novalite. It was sharp as any blade could be, cutting Akatsuki's fingers as he picked it up off the ground. "I always knew you weren't a coward," Finn said weakly. "Compliment accepted," Akatsuki said, holding the fragment in his hand, ready to deliver the final blow. "But you're still an idiot," Finn grinned slightly. He held the piece of novalite in one hand and pressed his other hand against the ground. Immediately, the ground began to shake, and white lines ripped their way across the exposed novalite, like computer circuits. Finn's body glowed and the lines of nanomachines was visible. "No.you.don't!" Akatsuki screamed as he swung the sharp stone down at Finn's neck. However, the stone cracked in two before it made contact. The familiar rippling waves of a distortion field encompassed Finn's body. Finn and the ground beneath them vanished and they all tumbled several metres down to the next layer of bedrock. The air around them glimmered sparked from the energy disturbances caused by such a large boson jump. "I don't believe it." However, their attention was diverted from the sparkling air around them to the sky above. There was a faint flicker of light that looked like a normal star, but it kept growing and growing. A massive inferno exploded above them and the sky lit up with fire. Millions of shooting stars ripped through the atmosphere as the novalite plain detonated from somewhere out in space. "It's over," Doctor sobbed, falling to the ground. "It's all over." "What are you blithering about?" Akatsuki demanded. "Again I've been cheated for the satisfaction of seeing him destroyed! Sacrificing himself to save the world. Such heroic nonsense." "They'll be on their way right now," Doctor continued to sob. "It's all over." "Start talking sense!" Akatsuki grabbed the snivelling little man by the collar and held him off the ground. "Who are 'they'?" "The UF, they'll be here any minute!" "Why would the UF be coming here? They're all trembling on the moons." "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen. Saotome, everything he said, it was all false! The novalite wasn't going to explode and he knew it. He sent a data-link to an outside computer address, they were downloading all our files!" Akatsuki dropped the man to the ground. "He must have had some hacker break into our databases and copy the files. It's all over!" " 'Remember to feed the armadillo at dawn'," Akatsuki repeated. "Hoshino." a smile crept onto his face and he started to laugh. "And I never even saw it coming!" "I'll spent the rest of my life rotting in some cell," Doctor sobbed.  
  
"Well played, Saotome, well played," Akatsuki shook his head and grabbed the sidearm off one of the guards, who were all staring in awe at the blazing sky. "But there was fatal flaw in your reasoning, my friend," he walked up behind Ryoko's chair, which lay toppled over on the bare rock, partially buried under a pile of stones. "Buried and helpless, life is good!" he said as he kicked it away and fired into its occupant. However, the bullet passed through nothing other than the fabric of the chair and out the other side, for it was empty. "You!" he grabbed Doctor again and hauled him off the ground. "I can suffer your snivelling, but not your incompetence!" quickly he dropped the man to the ground again, for the last time. Pulling the trigger ended the pitiful man's life. "A game of hide-and- seek, is it? Oh we'll have such fun! Come out, come out; time to play!" Akatsuki wandered around the remains of the small convoy, which lay about in a varied succession of condition. Some of the trucks had fallen undamaged and looked as though they had suffered no more than mere scratches. Others, however, looked were crushed and smashed beneath one another and boulders freed from the sudden disappearance of the surface that held him in place. Above, the sky was still afire as the tailed streaks of light shot across the sky. Akatsuki stopped at a truck that was still on its wheels and surveyed the area around him. "Where are you hiding, my pet?" "Sir?" one of the guards asked, finally snapping out of the trance the sky had put him under. "Sir, are you alright?" "Hmm?" Akatsuki turned his head and looked at the man. "Are you ok?" the guard repeated. "Shh," he raised his finger to his lips before pulling the trigger. "I'm hunting." The other guards seemed to be drawn back to reality by the sudden sound of a second shot. They all looked at each other before slowly backing away. They slipped behind a toppled truck and watched in frightened curiosity as Akatsuki wandered around the site muttering to himself. The site of Akatsuki in such a state was eerily fascinating, for they had never seen their employer in such a bizarre state before. He had the eyes of a rabid dog and the voice of a madman, slowly wandering around, the gun held loosely in his hand, muttering to himself quietly. "I don't know about you guys," one of them said. "But I'm outta here. This isn't in my contract." A few minutes later, Akatsuki heard the sudden start of a jeep's engine and saw the small vehicle speeding off across the barren wasteland. They hit a large stone, causing the jeep to bounce slightly off the ground before gravity regained its hold and brought it back down to earth. "Aw damnit," Ryoko grunted as her grip on the underside of the jeep slipped and she came out from under it, rolling helplessly across the hard rock. She tried to slide to a stop and press herself flat against the ground, but the damage had been done. "So glad you could stay, oh we'll have such fun!" Akatsuki said as he walked towards Ryoko, who quickly brought herself to her feet and bolted across the rock. "Run, fun, as fast as you can!" he said as he opened fire. Small sparks exploded off the ground as the bullets struck the rock Ryoko quickly put behind her in her dash. She finally threw herself behind one of the upturned trucks, only suffering a minor scratch as her arm brushed against a twisted piece of what had once been the trailer's siding. Akatsuki stopped firing, but she could hear his footsteps coming closer. "No where to run, no where to hide." Ryoko looked around for something she could use as a weapon. Fortunately, given her training, almost anything harder than a piece of Styrofoam would do. Normally she could have just bashed Akatsuki's face in with her fists, but since he had a gun that blew that plan out of the water. She grabbed a piece of the sheared metal and ripped it off the trailer's side with an ear splitting screech. Beating it flat into a flat strip, she picked up some of the smaller shards of metal off the ground, and ran out from behind her cover. Akatsuki fired at her, but she held the long strip in front of her as a shield. It was difficult for the longhaired psychopath to see exactly what was deflecting his bullets in the dim light and the moment he stopped firing there was a sudden pain in his cheek. He raised his fingers to his face felt a small stream of warm blood run down from just under his eye. There was another sharp pain, this time in his arm as something dug deeply into the flesh. Ryoko threw the last shard of metal at the confused Akatsuki before diving back behind the truck. It seemed to perturb him for a minute as he stared at the blood on his hands in the pale moonlight. Quickly, she scooped up the few more she could find and held them between her fingers. She had counted the number of shots Akatsuki had fired since he had first laid his hands on the gun. So far she counted six, which meant another eight to go. Only problem was trying to get those remaining bullets out of the way without having them come too close for comfort. There was only one alternative course of action to forcing Akatsuki to spend his remaining ammunition was to kill or disable him, which didn't seem too likely. He hardly flinched when the two shards had struck him. It was almost like he was immune to pain, that he was so far out of his mind that pain was no longer a factor. "Damnit, where's Saotome when I really need him?" Ryoko muttered as she felt along the ground for more shards. Akatsuki was getting close, she could hear the rock scrape beneath his feet as he meandered over. Finally, she found one last shard. Quickly, she waved her shield out from behind the truck but heard no shots fired at it. "Going for the old 'whites-of-their-eyes' routine eh? Clever bastard. Ok, here goes, I'll have to hit his hand with this." She looked at the shard in her hand, which glimmered in the moonlight. Akatsuki stopped as he came within a few metres of the truck. There was no noise coming from behind it and all appeared still. He slithered closer and rested his shoulder against the side of the truck and proceeded slowly forward, not even a scrape came from his boots as they slid across the bare rock. Suddenly, he jumped out and aimed at where Ryoko was and opened fire, but his bullets ricocheted off the truck's side and struck none of the flesh of his intended target. Just then, the rear door to the truck's trailer flew open and connected solidly with his body, sending him to the ground. There was a sudden pain in his right hand, causing him to drop the gun. He looked down and saw a thick metal shard struck through the back of his hand. He seemed to stare at it in curiosity for a few moments before pulling the shard through and dropping it to the ground. "Pain," he said quietly as he noticed Ryoko flying towards him. "Pain is my friend, allow me to introduce you to it!" He brought his foot and forced it into her rips, sending her crashing to the ground not far away. He picked up the gun with his left hand and took aim, but his grasp on the weapon lasted no more than a few seconds as Ryoko leapt from the ground and kicked it out of his hands. Wasting no time, she delivered a solid blow to his face with her knee, sending him back to the ground, blood spurting out of nose as the cartilage broke and blood vessels ruptured. However, this did not seem to sway him, for he rose to his feet again, his eyes searching the ground for the firearm. "Why do you persist?" he asked. "I could ask you the same thing," Ryoko heaved as she tried to regain her breath. Her eyes also scanned the ground for any sign of the gun. It wasn't so much that the fate of the battle rested on who had possession of the weapon, but it would definitely prove to be an asset to whoever did manage to gain control of it. She didn't find the gun, but did spot something of interest. It was too soon to launch another front against him; she was still recovering the wind that had been knocked out of her. The more time she could buy herself the stronger she'd be when they finally crossed swords once more. "It is all in vain," Akatsuki said after a few minutes. The smile on his face truly reflected the madness that had consumed him. "Shut your mouth!" Ryoko cried as she burst forward and drove her elbow into his chest, or tried to anyway. He caught it and, for a moment, they both stared at one another face-to-face. However, during Ryoko's momentary loss of concentration, Akatsuki slammed his fist into the side of her face and, while she recoiled from the blow, grabbed her by the hair and smashed her face into his knee. "I'm quite disappointed in you," Akatsuki said, standing over Ryoko, his foot crushing her chest into the rock. "I expected more from a trained soldier such as yourself. At least Saotome had some fight in him. You," he smirked. "You're nothing but a little girl." Ryoko cried out slightly as he forced more weight onto. "This will hardly be any fun at all." "Bite me," Ryoko spat, trying to wriggle out from under his foot, but it continued to crush her into the rock. "Struggle as much as you like, I enjoy it." She searched the ground for what she had seen earlier and spotted it, glistening in the moonlight. However, it was too far out of reach for her to make a grab for it. Akatsuki applied more pressure onto Ryoko's already aching chest. She quickly braced her feet against the side of the truck and pushed herself forward, causing Akatsuki to loose his balance and fall back into the trailer. She then grabbed the metal shard she had been eying, which Akatsuki had pulled from his hand not moments before, wheeled herself around, and tried to thrust it into his chest. Akatsuki saw the glistening metal blade streaking for his heart and he quickly grabbed Ryoko's wrist with his only operable hand, trying to prevent it from sinking through the layers of flesh and bone that protected the beating pump. "Take it!" Ryoko grunted as she pushed all her weight into forcing the shard forward. "Take it! You sickening piece of shit! I'm going to finish it right here and now!" They were deadlocked. Ryoko put all her strength into pushing the blade into Akatsuki's chest, where his unbeating heart of coal resided, and he, in turn, put all his strength into repelling it. There was a sudden flash of light to the side of the truck, which drew their attention away from trying to kill one another for a second. However, this second was all Akatsuki needed. During Ryoko's brief laps of concentration, he struck her in the face with his wounded hand. The distraction of the sudden force against her face caused her to lessen her weight against the blade, which was enough for Akatsuki to push her away. The shard skidded away into the night and it was at this time that Akatsuki finally laid eyes on gun. Ryoko also caught a glimpse of it and they both scrambled towards it. Akatsuki got to it first and aimed for her, but he was caught off-guard when Ryoko grabbed his wrist and pushed the gun's barrel away from her, but not by much. Even with two arms against one, Akatsuki still managed to slowly inch the barrel closer and closer in her direction. There were still six bullets left, and only one was needed to do the job. "First the Utopia Colony, then Saotome," he grunted. "And now, you. It's a pity you die so easily, or else I might have a sense of satisfaction!" There was a slow scratching noise, as though something were being dragged across the ground, but they paid no attention to it, they had bigger things to worry about. The gun shook slightly as both of them tried to force it towards the other. The gun suddenly went flying out of Akatsuki's grip and landed beside them. They both made a dive for it, but it was quickly picked up off the ground by another. Finn pulled himself off the ground and leaned against the side of the truck, holding the gun level with Akatsuki's eyes. Akatsuki made a desperate attempt to pull Ryoko in front of him as a shield, but she quickly wrenched his wounded arm behind his back and pushed his face into the rock. "You can't do this," Akatsuki wheezed as Ryoko forced her knee into his back. "It goes against everything you stand for." "You," Finn said weakly, but with enough strength to get the words out. "You destroyed everything I stand for. You destroyed my home, took away my life, used me as a tool in your twisted dreams of power. I have every right to pull the trigger." "You can't," Akatsuki wheezed again. "Please, mercy," his free hand dug into one of his pockets. "Finish him off, Saotome," Ryoko said, wrenching Akatsuki's arm further behind his back. "Do it now." "You.you who are without mercy now plead for it?" Finn's breathing grew heavy. "I thought you were made of sterner stuff." "Please," Akatsuki said, ripping the pendant from around his neck off and holding it in his hand. "You'd like me to say something like 'you're not worth it"," Finn said. "But I can't forgive you, not after everything you've done. I'd be doing the human race a favour to remove you from it." "Doesn't a condemned man get one last wish?" "Saotome, hurry up, pull the trigger," Ryoko said. "He's just stalling for time, you know that. Just get it over with." Finn hesitated. "Not that I'm making any promises here, but what would your dying wish be?" "Well, my first dying wish is to live," Akatsuki chuckled. "Not funny," Finn said, his finger slowly closing on the trigger. Akatsuki closed his fist tightly around the pendant and winced in pain as Ryoko pulled even harder on his already separating shoulder. "You know what my dying wish is?" he said with a smirk. "He's only using you, Saotome," Ryoko said threateningly. "He's exploiting your only weakness, your compassion. Finish him off." Finn bit his lip. "You've never killed in cold blood before," Akatsuki countered. "Speak," Finn said after a few moments. "My dying wish," Akatsuki said with a devious grin on his face. "Is the end of your life!" he tossed the pendant and the object from his pocket into Finn's face. Finn quickly pulled the trigger, but he knew it was too late. The glowing stone Akatsuki had thrown at him fell to the ground and his body went limp and his head struck the ground with a dull thud. "I guess I don't even have to ask what that is," Ryoko said, looking at the last glowing fragment of novalite. "A detonator hidden around his neck," Finn said as he picked up the pendant. He looked at it for a moment before tossing it away. "It's not much," he said, looking at the glowing stone. "But it's enough to do the job." "I suppose this is a bad time to say 'I told you'," Ryoko said as she let go of Akatsuki and kicked him. "I could jump it," Finn said, still looking at the glowing fragment of stone. "What's the 'but'?" Ryoko asked, reading his voice. "It's a one-way trip," there was no time to break it into two pieces, which meant that there wouldn't be anything left for the return trip. "So it's either one of us goes or be both go," Ryoko said. "It's not that simple," Finn said, his strength slowly fading. "He wanted to blow both of us up." "Gee, ya think?" Ryoko said with, her voice heavily laced with pissed sarcasm. "No, it's not that. He wanted it to be destroyed." "Aww crap," Ryoko said, all the pieces falling into place. "The jump computer." "Bingo, and we go back to where we started, maybe worse. So the choice is clear, looks like I've got." Ryoko struck him on the side of the face. "Are you insane?" "If it means saving humanity from." She struck him again. "I'm not talking giving your life for 'the greater good' or whatever you want to call it. That's crazy enough by itself." "Then what?" She struck him again. "Are you an idiot? If you're that stupid then go ahead and blow yourself up." "Ryoko, I'm." "Stop it! Just get it over with," she tried to hit him again but he caught her wrist. "Ryoko, listen to me," Finn said. "I don't expect you to understand. Hell, I don't even understand it, but I can't let it all be for nothing. I can't let him win. This is my chance to end this forever. Do you think I want to blow myself up? Do you think I want to leave you? Of course not, I hate it, but I can't let everything we've worked so hard for be in vain. It kills me to think what I have to do, but it has to be done. The fact is that it goes way beyond just you and me. If Akatsuki wins, we all lose, not just the two of us, everyone. Many more will suffer if I don't do this. " Ryoko stayed silent for a moment before raising her eyes to meet his. "Ryoko," he said, taking her hand in his. "I know I've never said it before, but I love you, you know I do. Nothing will ever change that." "The way you talk," she said with a smile. It was at this time that she realized how close their faces had drawn to one another. "Sao.Finn," their lips brushed together. Their lips touched one another's and they were drawn into a tearful kiss. The novalite beside them began to spark. "You know I love you too," she said in the quietest of voices they broke apart. She picked up the glowing stone and placed it in his hand. "You don't have much time. Go. Go before I return to my senses." She closed Finn's hand over the stone. Finn raised his closed fist slightly and looked at the beams of light that escaped between his fingers. However, before he concentrated on his jump point, there was a bright flash of light and a surprised cry from the other side of the truck. Ryoko reached for the gun, which lay not too far away from them, and rose to investigate. "You'd better get going, my guess is that you don't have much time left." Finn nodded and closed his eyes. The familiar glowing trails of nanomachine pathways throughout his body became visible. Ryoko crept around the corner. There was a figure lying on the ground not too far away. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but it was obvious it wasn't Doctor or one of the guards. She held the gun ready and crept forward a little closer. "Hey, Saotome? I think you might want to hang on a sec," she called when she saw Akito's dazed form lying there.  
  
The Last Chapter  
  
Finn could feel the familiar tingle as the bose particle energy circulated throughout his net of nanomachines and could feel himself begin the transdimensional fold when he heard Ryoko call to him. The novalite in his hand sparked and quivered as it came closer and closer to detonation, but he voided the jump and brought himself back from the edge between the layers of space. "Come on, get up!" he heard Ryoko say, which was followed by the sound of someone's feet scraping against the ground. "Saotome, I don't know what you were praying for, but I hope he has something to do with it." She deposited the dazed Akito in front of him. "Wakey wakey," she said, gently kicking him in the ribs. "I feel funky," he said, his eyes swirly. "Took you long enough," Finn said. "I want chicken, I want liver, meow mix meow mix please deliver," Akito babbled. "We don't have time for this." "Tenkawa!" Ryoko shouted. "Snap out of it!" she drove her fist into his face, not exceedingly hard, but enough to get the job done. "Did I make it?" Akito asked, rubbing his cheek. "I take it you found it," Finn said. "Yeah, Ruri knew what to do with the armadillo. We found out what to do next from your e-mail." "How many pieces is it in?" "Two, that's as much as I could get out of it," Akito replied, holding out his hand, which contained the two halves of the novalite fragment Finn had given him. "What happened here? What happened to you?" he asked, noticing Finn's less than perfect condition. "I'll tell you later. This is perfect," Akasuki's novalite sparked again and a small cloud of smoke exploded into Finn's face. "There's not much time though, I need you guys to listen to me. I need you to grab the jump computer from the lab trailer. Ryoko knows what I'm talking about." the novalite sparked again. "Hurry." Ryoko grabbed Akito by the arm with one hand and dragged him off and picked up the gun with her other, leaving Finn with the three pieces of novalite, one of which was almost at critical mass. "Damnit," Ryoko said, kicking the casing that housed the jump computer, which was bolted firmly to the floor. "Any ideas?" Akito asked. "One comes to mind. Get back," she drew the gun and opened fire at the base of the casing, where it connected with the steel anchors. However, her bullets simply bounced off the Plexiglas, leaving only tiny scratches where they had hit. "Damn, just like I thought." She was then struck with an idea. "Wait here a sec." She jumped over the side and made a run for one of the other trucks. "Hey, where are you going?" Akito called after her. "What am I supposed to do?" "Use your imagination!" Ryoko called back as she disappeared into one of truck trailers. It was pitch black inside and she felt alongside the walls of the upturned trailer for any sign of the light switch. After a few moments she stepped on something that crunched under her feet. She could feel the broken glass of the light tube beneath her feet. Following the power cord from the broken light along the floor she finally traced it back to its source and a switch. She flipped the switch, nothing happened. "Come on," she muttered in a frustrated voice. "Work!" she pounded the wall beside the switch and, amazingly enough, one of the lights that lined the roof of the trailer, which was now the floor, lit up. The trailer was filled entirely with overturned boxes, out of which bits and pieces of computers fell. The author snickers as he pulls Ryoko's strings. "Dance puppet, dance!" Ryoko burst out of the dimly lit trailer and made for the next one. Casting a glance over her shoulder she saw Akito trying to pry the jump computer off with a steel bar. She could have tried to explain to him what she was looking for but there wasn't any time for that. Judging from the rays of light that shot up from where Finn sat, it was surprising that they had lasted this long. The next trailer had only toppled onto its side and the light switch was easier to find. She hit it and the lights flickered to life. "Now this is what I'm talking about," she grinned as she opened one of the large lockers. "Come on!" every artery in Akito's neck and head looked about ready to burst as he tried to free the relatively small computer from the bolts. Something heavy crashed beside him. "Tenkawa, let's get to work," Ryoko said, holding jackhammer. Akito looked at the one she had dropped by his side and pulled it up. Ryoko stood on one side of the computer while Akito stood on the other. They both placed the ends of their instruments at the base of the casing, which was the thinnest and weakest part of the support structure. They looked at one another and nodded. Their tools hammered so violently against the structure that they both struggled to keep them focused on that one point. Ryoko's arms shook from the force of the jackhammer pounding away, but she held it as firmly as she could against the target. "Stop," she put turned off her jackhammer and signalled for Akito to do the same. "This isn't working," she said, looking closely at the damage they had inflicted, or rather lack there of. All they had succeeded in doing was putting a few dents in the support structure. "We should keep at it then," Akito said, firming his grip on his hammer. "Not enough time," Ryoko looked over to where Finn was. Light was no longer shining from the charged piece of novalite; it was flickering, which couldn't possibly be good. "What if we took it to this stuff?" Akito tapped on the Plexiglas casing. The gentle glow of the device along with the low humming it produced seemed to lull him into a trance. "We can't risk destroying it. I guess there's no choice, we'll have to move him. Come on," she said, jumping down. "Tenkawa, move it!" "Right," Akito snapped back to reality and followed. "How much time left?" Ryoko asked when they made it back to the now very weak Finn. "I'd give us a twenty seconds or less," Finn replied, struggling to stay alive. "We can't get that thing loose," Ryoko said, grabbing Finn under the arm and pulling him somewhat upright. "We're going to move you over to it." "Right," Finn winced as the sudden movement opened his wounds further. Ryoko acted as a crutch on one side while Akito did the same on the other. They walked/dragged Finn in the direction of the jump computer, his feet scraping and dragging across the bare rock as they went. "What are you planning to do with the computer anyway?" Ryoko asked. "Where are you going to take it? Couldn't we just chuck it after you jump the bomb away?" "I want to make sure." Finn coughed and small spurts of blood dripped from his mouth. "I want to make sure that thing's never seen again," he finally managed to say. "You sure you've got the strength for this?" Akito asked. "I could always jump it. Just tell me where." "Thanks for the offer, but I don't know if you could let go of the thing before you rematerialized. There's a very small window. Besides, the Captain would kill me if she ever found out," Finn said, trying to laugh. They set him down on the table beside the computer a few seconds later. If Finn was reading the cards right, they only had about ten seconds left. Ryoko took one of his hands and placed it on the glass casing. "You ready?" Finn nodded. "Then go on, get out of here before my better judgment gets a hold." Finn held the stones tightly in his free hand. His vision was somewhat blurry but he did manage to pick out the glistening of repressed tears in her eyes. "See you in a bit," he said. "If you're lucky," the one fragment of novalite had almost reached critical mass and let everyone know this by a loud crack. "What are you waiting for?" Ryoko asked as the glowing lines ran throughout Finn's body, but not much more than that happened. "I think," Finn tried to say, but the hole in his chest made it almost impossible for him to breath without a certain degree of aching pain. "I think I need a booster," the stone violently cracked again. "My IFS net's almost fried from all the jumping, I need a fresh network to give me a kick in the right direction." "No problem," Ryoko said, nudging Akito out of the way. "I've got your nanomachines right here. Just tell me what to do." "Put your right hand on mine and press down hard," "Like this?" she asked, pressing her palm against his hand. Before Finn or Ryoko could say anything more, he disappeared in a flash of light, leaving a small cloud of sparking energy where he had been. The jump computer also vanished. Off on the horizon there was a bright flash followed by a loud crack and rumble as the novalite detonated. Ryoko and Akito felt the sudden blast of air rock the trailer they stood on as the shockwave reached them. The blast was well over five hundred kilometres away, but the shock was still considerable. Reality didn't change, which meant Finn must have jumped in time. Time passed. Akito and Ryoko had righted two of the chairs and sat watching the glowing ball of the explosion's epicentre slowly fade away. The high concentration of bose particles in the area made their watches useless. Ryoko's counted a minute every ten seconds while Akito's ticked one second every couple of minutes. Akito didn't want to say anything, nor did he want to do anything. He looked at Ryoko from the corner of his eye but couldn't read her expression. It was one mixed with concern along with a sense of confidence, as though she knew Finn would reappear any second but there were doubts in the back of her mind that maybe something had gone wrong. He was also afraid of saying something stupid. Knowing Ryoko he might be liable for some pain if he made any kind of comment, reassuring or otherwise. "He'll be back," he finally said. "Uh huh," Ryoko nodded. Akito could detect the same feelings in her voice that he had read in her face. "I'm going to go and find a jeep or something, see if I can find anyway to get us out of here when he gets back," he said rising from his chair. "Uh huh," Ryoko said, her eyes fixed on the fading light on the horizon. Akito walked away in the direction of what looked like some kind of vehicle still on its wheels. He passed Akatsuki's body, the dead eyes staring lifelessly out at him as he passed. It wasn't what he would call a gruesome sight but it was definitely uncomfortable. He had a strange feeling that Akatsuki could suddenly jump up and make a run for Ryoko. 'Nah,' he thought. 'Saotome's the only one who can come back from the dead.' He didn't know what to classify Finn as anymore. In this world they had been best friends since university. It was an odd coincidence that the Mars Planetary University was renowned its restaurant business and criminal psychology programmes, and it only struck him that way at that moment. He remembered all the crazy he and Finn had managed to pull off, including scaling the walls of one of the campus dorms to watch the sunset over the city. 'Man, what a nutbar,' Akito said in retrospect. However, it was not only the sunset that he gained from that incident. After falling from the second story into a bush, he was discovered by a certain blue haired woman searching the grounds. Yurika had graduated from the military academy first in her class and had come in search of Akito. At first, his reaction was much the same as it had been in the original reality, but once Finn 'convinced' him that he'd never find anyone more loving than Yurika, it all rolled along quite nicely. A few minutes later, he found a truck that was still on its wheels and only had minor dents and dings. When he climbed inside the cab he found that the keys were still in the ignition and the fuel cells were almost at full charge. It didn't have an IFS terminal like most of the new vehicles on Mars did and the controls looked more like something you'd find in an aestivalis cockpit, not a truck cab. 'Hopefully Ryoko knows something about this,' he thought. Leaving the keys where they were, he ventured around back to see what the trailer held. When he opened the heavy doors he was buried in an avalanche of boxes. He swam to the surface and his head burst out of the wave of supplies. "Gah!" a heavy toolbox fell on his head. When he had recovered from his concussion, which fate had obviously sent to the wrong address, he opened a few boxes and sifted through them. It was difficult to tell what exactly he was pulling out of the box in the dim light, so he hauled a couple of them back to the cab and hit the lights. "Tenkawa!" came Ryoko's voice. "Get over here, now!" "I'm coming!" Akito called back, tripping over the boxes and onto the bare rock. He brought himself to his feet and scrambled over to where Ryoko was. He found her not in her chair, but on the ground. In her arms was Finn. "Is he alright?" "I don't think so," Ryoko replied. "I can't see shit in this light, but he's not conscious." Akito knew better than to ask whether or not Finn had a pulse, so he took one Finn's arms and gently lifted him off the ground. Ryoko grabbed the other arm and slung it across her shoulders. "Follow me," he said and they began to make their way to the truck Akito had found. They lifted Finn into the spacious cab and laid him across the seats. The lights had been left on and they could fully see the damage he had sustained. There was a baseball sized wound in Finn's chest. Blood seeped from the opened wound and was soaked up by his already blood saturated shirt. A small trail of blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth and ran down the side of his face. They could see the unsteady rise and fall of his chest, so they knew at the very least he was still alive. Unfortunately, neither of them really knew where to start. They had neither bandages nor disinfectant. "Get this out of the way," Ryoko said, brushing one of the boxes aside, sending it tumbling to the ground. "We've got to stop the bleeding." "No shit," Ryoko snapped. "Sorry, but I'm used to ripping people apart, not putting them back together." Finn's body convulsed in pain. "And my guess is that we don't have much time." "What about this?" Akito tore a long strip from his shirt. "No good. It's covered in dust, dirt, and who knows what else? The wound would just get infected." Ryoko looked around and noticed the box she had tossed away earlier. There was a long white strip leading away from where the box had hit. She looked at it and slowly climbed down to have a closer look. It was a long bandage roll that had escaped from the box, and more was inside. Quickly, she grabbed the rolls that remained in and jumped back into the cab. She set the bandage rolls down and dug through the other box, which yielded a mist-bottle of hydrogen peroxide that could be used to clean the wound. "Let's get to work." Ryoko took a strip of bandage and gently wiped the small pool of blood that had formed over the wound away. She then quickly sprayed it with disinfectant, which caused Finn to convulse again in pain. "It's a lot better than the alternative, Saotome, believe me." Akito lifted Finn's upper body a few centimetres off the seat so Ryoko could wrap the bandage around him. She unbuttoned Finn's shirt, slipped it off him, and wrapped the wound tightly and tried to keep pressure. Finn's breathing was erratic, his face was contorted, and he looked pale. He had lost a lot of blood, there was no doubt, but both Ryoko and Akito hoped that he still had enough in him to last a while. When they had finished, they gently sat Finn down in a seat. Blood could be seen soaking through the bandages on his chest and his back, but that was the best they could do for now. "Where's the closest colony?" Ryoko asked, taking the wheel. "Utopia's closest, but it's still bombed out. Our best chance is to make for New Wellington; it's only an hour or two further than Utopia." Akito replied. "New Wellington it is then," Ryoko said as she turned the ignition. Nothing happened. "Come on you." she pounded her fist against the dashboard and tried again, but still, nothing happened. She hit the hood release and jumped down to the ground. "Try it now!" she called to Akito, after fiddling with the engine components. Akito tried it and the truck sputtered for a second before dying. Ryoko kicked the side of the truck violently. "Try it again." Akito turned the key and the engine sputtered. "Come on, come on." but still, nothing happened. "Hold it," she said, climbing back into the cab. "This isn't working, something must have been knocked loose when the plain was jumped," she climbed up on top of the cab and surveyed the area in the dim light. It was difficult to see anything in any great detail, but it was painfully obvious that there wasn't anything else out there still on its wheels. All the trucks were either upturned or toppled over, and there weren't any more jeeps left from what she could see. She then spotted something blinking on the horizon. "See anything?" Akito asked from below. "Yeah, I see something," Ryoko said, noticing a faint light off in the distant sky. It was coming closer and they could hear the faint chop of its engines. "Tenkawa, I've got an idea," she said, climbing back down to the ground.  
  
Hitch a Ride  
  
Ryoko waved her flashlight in the air, trying to signal the approaching helicopter. After a few minutes the helicopter's signal lights flickered on and off in reply. It set down a few minutes later at the centre of the debris field. Ryoko wore a Nergal security officer's uniform she had taken from one of the dead guards. "Where's Chairman Akatsuki?" asked one of the men who piled out of the helicopter. "What happened here?" he wore a commander's uniform and had a gun at his hip. "Chairman Akatsuki's been killed, along with a few others in a gun battle," Ryoko said. "We don't have time for that now, we've got a wounded man here that needs immediate medical attention." "What happened to the novalite?" "Gone," Ryoko motioned upward to the sky, where fragments of the mineral burned up in the atmosphere. "There's nothing left here that I'd give a damn about, let's get out of here." "But what about the data, all the equipment?" "You can send someone around to pick up that scrap later, we don't have time to waste worrying about a few buckets." "That's right," Akito said coming forward. He wore the bloodstained white lab coat that had previously belonged to Doctor. "He needs more help than I can give him here." "Sir!" one of the other soldiers called. "I found him. I found Chairman Akatsuki." "How is he?" asked the commander. "He's dead, maybe a few hours. He's cold. Gunshot wound to the head's what got him." "I see," the commander said and turned to Ryoko. "Get your man out of here, we'll send in a few transports to clean this mess up." He turned back to one of his subordinates. "Classify everything here as top-secret. Copy any data from the lab computers before you destroy them." "Come on," Ryoko said to Akito as they picked Finn, who had a Nergal coat thrown over him, up off the ground and pulled him into the helicopter. "Where to?" the pilot asked when Ryoko they had finished securing Finn in the back. Blood was slowly seeping through the bandages and he was still unconscious. "A hospital, doesn't matter where. I think New Wellington's closest, head there," she said. "Hey Chief," the pilot said into his radio. "Got a few guys here who want to get to a hospital, that ok by you?" They looked out the window and the commander gave a thumbs-up. "Roger that. Strap yourselves in," "How long will it take to get there?" Ryoko asked, half tempted to toss the pilot out of the doors and fly there herself. Unfortunately, that would only rouse suspicion, which was the last thing they needed, other than maybe engine failure or a rouge meteor. "Shouldn't take us more than a few hours to get to New W." "I just hope he can hang on that long," Ryoko said to herself. It was some time later that Ryoko was nudged awake by the pilot. "We're coming in," he said. Ryoko opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was dark outside, but the glowing lights of a city shone below her. "NW Olympus Hospital, this is NS-204 requesting landing clearance. We've got a wounded man here, gunshot wound to the chest, have team meet us at landing-deck 3, over." "Landing permission granted, will have teams standing by, over," came the reply. They landed a few minutes later and Finn, who was very pale at this point, was taken inside. Ryoko and Akito ditched their disguises when they had gone beyond the view of the pilot and followed. However, they were forced to wait when he was wheeled into an operating room. "You think it's over?" Akito asked when they had been sitting for over an hour. "I hope so," Ryoko answered, ending their conversation. She knew perfectly well what he meant. 'Could it be over?' she asked herself. They had been through hell and back time and again with no end in sight, but now she couldn't think of who would want to interfere with their lives again. Akatsuki was gone, the novalite was destroyed, the jump computer was floating somewhere in subspace. 'What more could happen?' she was almost afraid to think that. The thought of some new band of nutbars coming after them again seemed so unlikely, but at the same time didn't look all that improbable. 'You always think it's over but someone always comes around to reopen the wounds.' The doors opened and a few nurses and surgeons filed out of the OR. "How's he doing?" Ryoko asked, walking up to one of the surgeons. "Are you Mrs. Saotome?" the surgeon asked. "How'd he know Finn's last name is Saotome?" Akito asked a puchuu. "Puchuu," the puchuu replied. Akito punched it in the face "Gah, my you shatter my teeth." "Pssst," the author whispers. "Think DNA database." "Where'd you come from?" asked Akito. "Gotta go!" the author dives into a dimensional rift. "I.er.not exactly." Ryoko's face turned red. "How is he?" "I'm sorry, we did everything we could to save him but he just lost too much blood," however, before Ryoko would react, someone whapped the surgeon on the back of the head with a fan. "What was that for?" "I told you to stop freaking people out. I'm sorry about him," the woman said addressing Ryoko. "Mr. Saotome's still in critical condition but he's alive. The bullet blew a hole through his chest and passed through one of his lungs. I don't know how he survived, but he's still hanging on. We've moved him to room A-3 in the observation ward if you want to see him. Visiting hours are over in half an hour though, so you'd better hurry up. Ryoko thanked the nurse, grabbed Akito, and made her way to the observation ward with only getting lost twice. They finally found the room and walked in without knocking. Finn lay in the hospital bed and looked like some kind of strange robotic experiment. There were electrodes attached all over him, IV lines going into his hands, and a tubes running down his nose. Beside him was a heart rate monitor and an iron lung, slowly forcing air in and out of his damaged lungs. She found an overwhelming need to touch him and she quickly grabbed his hand. It was cold and clammy, but she could definitely feel a steady pulse in his wrist. While a girl like Yurika probably would have wept in grief that her love was in such a state and in happiness because he was still alive, Ryoko just stood there with a smile on her face. "I don't know how you do it," she said to herself.  
  
Two Weeks Later  
  
Ryoko awoke to the sound of footsteps shuffling towards her. She lifted her head off the table she had been resting it on and peered into the darkness of the hospital room. She had 'persuaded' one of the nurses to give her a pass that allowed her to stick around after visiting hours. Fortunately, during the chaos the UF had been thrown into after the Antarctic base disaster they had forgotten to delete her off the payroll, so she was still being paid. Eventually they'd figure it out and she'd be forced to either go back to the military and prove to them that she was still alive or move on to something else, but for now she concentrated on getting some rest, but little relaxation. Akito had left the day after they had arrived at Olympus Hospital. Before he left the colony itself though he had seen the NW city government and arranged for some aid for the devastated Utopia Colony. Amazingly enough, no one in NW had heard that the Utopia Colony had been blown up. They figured that it had been some kind of power failure that prevented anyone from contacting the colony. It was truly amazing to find out how dense some people were. However, the colony did send Akito back with a few trucks loaded with food, water, clothing, and a small convoy of equipment that could be used to start clearing the debris and rebuilding the colony. The UF was still hiding on the lunar stations, so any military aid was still out of the question. She glanced at the clock that hung on the wall opposite Finn, which read half past three in the morning. He had yet to regain consciousness from his ordeal but considering what he went through he was in pretty good shape. "Who's there?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Two more people shuffled into the room. Ryoko heard them whispering among themselves. One of them moved to Finn's bed and unplugged the equipment. He was able to breath on his own now, so the iron lung was only there as a precaution. They transferred Finn over to a mobile bed on wheels. "What are you doing?" Ryoko demanded, getting up. "Take her too," she heard a hushed voice and two of the shadows came closer. When they made a grab for her, Ryoko sent them both to the floor with broken noses. She stepped over them and made for to the third figure, who was trying to wheel Finn out the door. However, before she could grab him, one of the men on the floor grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall to the floor. She braced her hands against the floor and kicked the man in the face, but he still maintained his grip. "Forget about him for a second, help us get her," he said to the third figure. "What are you doing?" Ryoko demanded again, not really expecting an answer, kicking the second man in the face. This time his grip slipped and she was able to bring herself to her feet. The third man hit the light switch and the room burst into brightness of the florescent lights overhead. Ryoko, her eyes adjusted to the previous darkness of the room, was momentarily blinded by the sudden light. Her opponent closed in during his moment of weakness and smashed her head against the wall. Ryoko fell to the floor, a small dribble of blood making its way down from her forehead. Everything became very blurry and time seemed to pass slowly. She heard the voices of the men as the two of them picked themselves up. There was dull ache in her head, which was joined by a sudden pain in her stomach as someone rammed his foot into her. The world went black.  
  
Ryoko could feel the heavy bumps and bounces as the van rolled across the Martian terrain. When she opened her eyes she saw nothing but black, and when she tried to speak she found her mouth covered. She was bound tightly to her seat. "She's awake," she heard a hushed voice ahead of her. "Just leave her alone, we'll deal with her when we get to the Citadel," came another voice, which she recognized from the past night. She struggled against the robe, which bound her hands behind her back, but it was an exercise of futility. 'At the very least,' she thought. 'I should take a look around." Her head was covered by a thick black bag. Being a fully trained soldier, this was an easy problem to solve. She braced the side of her head against the window dragged it down. She felt the bag slowly slide a little off her head. Repeating this over and over again, covered by the roar of the wind blasting outside the van, she was able to peer out from under the bag just enough to look around her. The bright sun poured into the heavily tinted windows. Outside was bare Martian soil that had yet to be cultivated. They were travelling across a flat plain and moved towards the foothills at the base of snow-covered mountains. They traveled alongside a river bringing fresh water down from the mountains. It was one of those views that ended up on postcards and travel brochures. Ryoko might have been inclined to think of it that way were she not tied up, blindfolded, gagged, and being taken to an undisclosed location out in the middle of nowhere. It was like Finn always took her out to war zones for dates or something. She took a look at the three men in the van with her. Up front sat two of them, with the third sitting behind them in the middle row, she and Finn occupied the third row bench. The three men wore strange white uniforms, as though they belonged to some kind of cult. All their hair was buzzed off, with the exception of a small tuft at the front. She looked at Finn, who still had IV line stuck in his wrist and tubes running through his nose. He was still in his little coma, sleep, daze, whatever you want to call it but was still alive. When they arrived, Ryoko quickly slipped the bag back over her head. She was grabbed rather roughly and tossed over someone's shoulder and it didn't sound as though Finn was being treated any more gently. She was taken inside some kind of structure. It was impossible to see exactly what, but from the creaking of wooden floorboards and the smell of sawdust she guessed it to be some kind of wooden cottage. She was placed in a seat and the blind was removed. The room she was in was dark, illuminated by a single light bulb hanging from a beam above its centre. It wasn't exactly what she would consider furnished, but it did have a small table, a few wooden chairs, and an old couch, which Finn occupied. The three men stood with their backs to her, facing a large chair that held a man in white robes. 'Not this again,' she sweatdropped. "Magistrate, we've brought him here as you requested," one of them said. "Well done," the Magistrate replied as he rose from his chair. "Well, young lady, we meet again," he said, touching Ryoko's face. Ryoko, in response, shook his hand off and glared back at him. "Why such hostility?" "Chyeah, right," Ryoko smirked. "You know damn well." "So she has touched the sacred stones as well?" one of the men asked. "It would appear so," the Magistrate looked at Finn. "Two of them, just as the prophecy foretold. The time of our ascension is close at hand indeed." 'Ooooooh boy,' Ryoko thought. 'Trapped with Captain Fruitloop again.' "You do realize the novalite's gone, right?" she asked. "My ears are deaf to your tongue," the Magistrate said. "Look," Ryoko said angrily. "I'm not in the mood for this crap. So cut the shit." "What do you mean?" one of the men asked. "Maybe it has something to do with the sacred stones," another suggested. "No-va-lite," Ryoko said slowly. "You know, rocks that go boom?" "You mean the sacred stones," the man said. "What do you mean their gone?" "Did you see the fireworks the other night? Kind of hard to miss, if you ask me." "Magistrate," one of the men said. "They claim the sacred stones are no more." Ryoko's eye twitched slightly. "I don't have time to play these games," she said, her blood boiling. "You understand English, right? You do? Good. Now stop blithering and explain to me what you want, I'm not in the mood for this bullshit." "They are very rude, aren't they?" the Magistrate said to the men. Ryoko reached for where her gun normally hung, but was disappointed to find it not in its usual place. "Please, sit down and calm yourself." Ryoko glared at the robed man in furious frustration before spinning the chair around and seating herself. "How very unwomanly." "Bite me," Ryoko snapped. "I take it that no introduction is required, you obviously have recovered your recollections from the other world." "You can skip that part. How about skipping to the part where you tell me what you want?" The Magistrate looked at Ryoko in curious contempt for a few minutes before answering. "Fire has rained down from the sky, the ice has been forced back by fire, and a man crosses from one world to another," he said.  
  
'What's to stop me from stuffing his guy's head right up his ass?' Ryoko thought. She didn't notice any weapons in the small room and none of the men appeared to be armed, but knowing these whackos that didn't mean anything. It was unlikely that they had anymore of those handheld gravity blast cannons, but she wouldn't put it past them to be concealing some kind of weapon, whether it be a kind of Martian deathray or a sharp stick. The windowless room was somewhat intimidating. With no light entering, the room appeared to be very small and cramped. "I guess your warped objectives are still the same?" "Correct," the Magistrate nodded. "It was never our intent to have the hand destroyed, but our preparations have been altered to fit the current shape the cosmos have conformed. It was a major blow to our kind to have reality shift but our mission has not changed." "What gives you the right." "What right have you to throw us from our homes and burn them to the ground?!" he demanded angrily. "Humanity, humanity is a parasite, a disease, plague, an infestation. You," the old man pointed his bony finger at Ryoko. "You are an infectious pustule of the disease known as humanity! We will destroy you and all your kind. We will rid you from the furthest recesses of your hovels and cleanse the universe of the infection!" "And what crack-high told you this?" Ryoko asked contemptuously and the Magistrate and his men looked at her in shocked horror. "It is as the prophecy tells us, they are truly beings of evil and disbelief," one of them trembled as they backed away from her. It was as though they were afraid of catching some kind of disease from her, like common sense for starters. "So why exactly do you want to 'cleanse the universe'?" she asked. She figured at as long as she was there she might as well pick up a few tidbits about these people; it might prove useful later on. Besides, Finn might like to know when he woke up. It would be very educational. "Beware, Magistrate," the man warned. "she could be trying to poison your mind and cloud your fire of wisdom with the blackest rains of villainy." "I will take care, my son, do not worry," the Magistrate said and turned to Ryoko. "This world is corrupt, infected with gluttonous brutality and endless immoral dishonesty. You have ignored." "Hold it," Ryoko put her hand up and everyone looked at her as though she had just slit the Magistrate's throat. "I know the world isn't perfect. I think a lot of the shit that happens sucks and is fuelled by selfish desire and on and on, but you know what? You guys aren't any better. You're goals and ideals, 'cleansing humanity' and that bullshit, I'd say that's pretty damn selfish, oh wait, 'immoral dishonesty' and 'gluttonous brutality' I should say. I know I'm not much better than the rest of them, but look at you guys. Let's see, you wiped out thousands of unsuspecting and innocent people." "Innocent! Bah! There are no innocent. Every member of the human race is guilty of unspeakable crimes and they must pay for them!" "What gives you the right to decide the fate of the human race?" Ryoko shot back. "And don't give me this whole "voice" crap. I don't know what you guys have been smoking, but last time I checked, people were the own masters of their fate. Just because you believe something different doesn't give you the right to force your beliefs on everyone else. If you guys want to live out here in the middle of nowhere and refuse to bathe, go right ahead, I'm not stopping you, but you have no right to force your warped ideals on everyone else! How can you even call yourselves human beings?!" "We don't call, nor wish to call, ourselves human beings," the Magistrate replied calmly. "So what subspecies of primate do you prefer?" "We were once like you, mere human beings, poor lost beings who walked the Earth, no better than the rest of you." "You guys are more screwed up than I thought." "But we have transcended the level of mere 'human' and are the next and only evolutionary step! Do you know why we were banished from Earth? The human race was scared. You were scared of us. You know we're superior and you wanted to stop that. We heard the voice and began our ascension. The human race was scared, so they gave us a choice: leave or be locked away like animals, which would have been worse than death. It's a natural instinct you humans have, the need to feel superior to everything around you. You can't accept the truth so you cling to everything that makes you unfit for this universe!" Ryoko leapt from her chair and drove her fist into the Magistrate's jaw. "Shake that bullshit out of your head!" she grabbed him by the neck and gave the awestruck men a look that said 'back off'. "You-are-human, as much as I hate to admit it, you are part of the human race. You're pretty poor excuses of it, but you are. There's nothing superior about you other than your stupidity!" "Violence is always the human's way," the Magistrate choked. Ryoko threw him back into his chair. "You're too far gone to listen to reason," she said, crossing her arms. The Magistrate and the men stared at her in shock. "Don't get me wrong," she said after a few minutes had ticked by. "I'm not saying religion is shit, although I would hardly classify you bunch morons a 'religion'. I'm just trying to get it through your lead- plated skulls that you're no better than anyone else, for better or worse. So if you're going to kill me, do it now and get it over with because I'm getting pretty tired of being surrounded by you lunatics," she sat back down, her arms still crossed. "I am sorry, but we cannot do that, not in the fashion you so desire," the Magistrate said. "Oh joy," Ryoko heaved a sigh. "So what do you have planned? Some kind of human sacrifice or something?" "The prophecy tells us that two from your kind would emerge from the filth of your race. Originally it said that there would only be one, but in this world the text states two, a man and a woman. It tells us that these two would emerge as the pinnacle of your race, the highest forms you could hope to achieve. They would also serve as the only link between the human race and ours. They would be an intermediate species that is neither human nor ascended, but hopelessly caught in between. And it would be these two that would rise up to challenge us, a final test of our faith. We believe that you two are those challengers." "You think Saotome and I are part of some prophecy?" Ryoko smirked. "That is correct," the Magistrate said. "Both of you possess remarkable abilities, for human beings. Your companion, Finn Saotome, is an example of all the human race can aspire to become. His mental and physical abilities far surpass the greatest minds and athletes your race has ever produced." "So what's that make me?" "You are a female mirror-image of him. In peak mental and physical condition, you are the female equivalent to him. You two serve catalysts for one another. It is only the need produced by one that the other is able to tap into that hidden well of potential. It is what makes you two so remarkable," the Magistrate said. "And dangerous."  
  
Awakening  
  
Several more days had passed. Ryoko had been confined to a small room with no real means of escape. There were no windows to break through and the door was securely bolted shut. There was probably a way out, but she hadn't bothered to take the time to seriously look for one. There was no way she was going to bust out and leave Finn there, and it wouldn't be easy to haul him out of there unnoticed. So for the time being she stayed in the small room going over strategy and tactics for how she and Finn could make their escape. It was some time later that Ryoko heard the grate that covered the narrow ventilation duct gently removed. There was silence before a soft thud was heard and slow but steady footsteps moved in the direction of the small couch that had served as her bunk for the past few nights. It was impossible to tell what exactly was moving towards her in the blackness of the room. During the day, when some food and water was brought to her, a small electric lantern was placed in the middle of the floor and dimly illuminated the room. When the soft creaks of the figure's footsteps halted just beside the couch, Ryoko suddenly burst upright, grabbed him by the arm, and pinned him against the adjacent wall. She did all this with making little more than a soft creak in the floor, hardly enough to rouse suspicion from anyone who maybe outside the door. She quickly put her hand over the figure's mouth to prevent him from calling for help. "You say anything over a whisper and you'll consider yourself lucky if I only break your neck," she whispered. "Got it?" the figure mumbled some kind of affirmation and she slowly released her hand from his face. "Who are you?" "Jeez, I was going to tell you, but after being treated like this?" came a familiar voice. Even as a whisper it was unmistakable. "Why so rough?" "Saotome," Ryoko shook her head, even though Finn couldn't see her, and sat back down. "About time you woke up, it's almost been, what, three weeks?" "Sorry," Finn apologized. "But this was the first time they've let me out of their sight since they brought us here," he said, feeling his way to the couch and sat down beside her. "So how long have you been awake for anyway?" "About two weeks, not long after they operated," "So fill me in, what are you planning this time? I take it you pretended to be in a coma for the past two weeks for a reason? Let's see, making a deception that would bring you out here to the Successor's without them making any moves against us? Am I close?" "You're catching on," Finn replied. "You could have at least told me." "I had to keep it a secret, even from you. That way you wouldn't have anything to hide when they questioned you." "And.?" Ryoko pressed. "And I needed a little while to build up my strength," he heard Ryoko smirk in satisfaction. "You try having a baseball sized hole blown through your chest." He was breathing laboriously, but steadily. He was obviously in some discomfort but trying to hide it. Fortunately, the surgeons at the hospital had more or less stitched him back together, but it was a fragile balance. "So what have you found out?" "Not much really. They've had me next door for the past few days with someone watching me around the clock. The guy just left a few minutes ago for some reason. So they're keeping us both in the dark." "Why don't we just break out of here and go home? These guys don't seem to be armed, so it shouldn't be that hard to get out of here." "As much as I want to get out of here, we can't," Finn replied. "They'd just come after us again, or worse. Back at the Utopia Colony we found a stash of arms; I think they're planning something. If they had that many bombs inside the Utopia Colony it's more than likely that they have more in Iacon and all over the place." "And what's next?" Ryoko snapped back. "The UF tries to kill us because we know too much? Akatsuki's still alive? There's another novalite fragment out there? What's going to happen once we finish this? We've been fighting for a long time and I don't see things changing." "Ryoko." "Yeah, I know. We can't give up now. It's just that I'm getting pretty sick and tired of this. I'd rather be in a firefight in space in an aesti than running around blowing up rouge factions of crazed lunatics who seem to crawl out of the woodwork. At least before, when we were fighting the Jovians, we at least.I don't know, had a break every now and then. We knew what we were fighting for." "But we didn't know what we were fighting for," Finn said. "We were both tricked and lied to, duped into fighting a war under the false pretence that it was 'for all humanity'." "You're not helping." "But I know what you're getting at," he added quickly. A few minutes passed. "I've been thinking, maybe we're going about this the wrong way." "What's that supposed to mean?" "We've been fighting to resolve conflict. We fought the Jovians, the Division, the UF, the Akatsuki, and the Successors, but nothing's really changed. Maybe if we approached this from a different angle we might actually get somewhere instead of running around in ircles." "You don't mean negotiate, do you?" "It crossed my mind," Finn admitted. "So you just want to forgive and forget?" "I don't know," he replied, resting his head on the back of the couch and staring into the blackness of the room. "I can't forgive them for what they've done. I can't, but maybe we could meet them halfway, maybe work something out. Sounds stupid, I know. I can hardly believe I'm even saying this, but I just don't see us getting anywhere." "I know," she fumbled for his hand but finally found it. "I'm getting damn sick of it too, but these people, they're not interested in negotiations. You and I both know that trying to work something out would be in everyone's best interests, but with the Jovians it never worked, with the Division it never worked, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have worked with the UF or Akatsuki. As much as I hate to say this, you have to face these people at their level. It's the only way they understand. Besides, we're not exactly in the position to be making demands. Even if we could get them to agree to our terms, do you think the UF'll let them get away with it? Fighting them is the simplest solution." "And the simplest solutions are the best solutions," Finn finished. "You know I've never liked killing, but I've had to put that aside and concentrate on the larger picture. It's just that.this is getting ridiculous." "Well, you're going to have to get over it," Ryoko said firmly. "Like it or not, we've got a war to fight, and not fighting means surrendering, which means we loose. Do I even have to mention what that means?" "No, giving up isn't an option," he rose from the couch. "Besides, we've come too far to turn back now," he felt his way across the room in the direction of the tiny ventilation shaft that provided warmth for the small wooden cottage. "Hang on a sec," he pressed his ear against the bare wall. He could hear footsteps outside coming closer. There were also muffled voices. "What do you mean he's gone?" he heard someone ask. "He vanished, I left to find someone to relieve me, and when I came back he was gone." "Aren't you going?" Ryoko asked, getting up and making her way towards the place she had last heard Finn speak. The sound of the door's bolt being released could be heard, along with another all-too familiar sound of a gun being loaded. "How many are there?" "Three, one of them's armed," Finn said, still pressing his ear against the wall. "We can take them," Ryoko said cracking her knuckles. "Hang on a sec," Finn put his hand up to stop her, which was futile in the blackness of the room, but it was a force of habit. However, on its upward journey his hand connected with Ryoko's chest. "What's this? . eep." "Saotome," Ryoko said, gritting her teeth. "Wait!" he said in a hushed whisper, managing to catch her fist out of the air. Just then, the door burst open and a bright light poured into the dark room. Ryoko was about to make a run for the first man who entered but Finn held her back. "Don't act hostile." "Sinners, don't move!" the man holding the gun ordered, aiming the weapon in their direction. "I found him, he's in here." "Let's just try to work something out," Finn said in a hushed voice that only Ryoko could hear. "But." she tried to protest, but Finn added quickly. "If that doesn't work, we'll kick some ass. Let's just call that plan B for now." "Alright," Ryoko said reluctantly. "Don't fire," Finn said to the men and raised his hands. "We're not going to fight you." These words seemed to stun the men. They had been expecting some kind of resistance. They were, after all, the two spoken of in the prophecy. "Come with us," one of them said, stepping aside. The armed man stood ready to fire at a moment's notice, but didn't have to since Finn and Ryoko appeared to be cooperating. They were lead down a narrow and dimly lit hallway and into the same room Ryoko had 'talked' with the Magistrate. However, this time there were many more present. The Magistrate sat on his overly decorated throne, but Finn counted thirteen others sitting to the left of the old man, with armed men standing in the four corners of the room. "It seems there is no end to your trickery," the Magistrate said when Finn and Ryoko had been seated in two hard wooden chairs that were situated in front of two wooden tables situated beside one another. "You have deceived us for the last time." "Actually, I considered it a bit of a vacation," Finn said coolly. "I thought you didn't want to piss them off?" Ryoko nudged him. "But I apologize for deceiving you," he added quickly. "As you probably know, I'm not in the greatest shape at the moment." Behind them, men and women took their seats, and the small room felt overly crowded. The room fell into silence when the last seat was taken. "Can I ask what's going on here?" Finn asked when no one said anything. "I think it should be obvious to someone of your wicked intelligence," the Magistrate said. "Let the trial commence!"  
  
Order in the Court  
  
"Trail? On what charges?" Finn demanded, even though he knew it was useless. One of the men standing beside the Magistrate stepped forward carrying a scroll. "You are on trial facing the following charges," he said unrolling the scroll. "One count each of the wilful destruction of time and space. Five counts each of blasphemy against our faith and the voice. Two counts against Finn Saotome of directly hindering the voice's work. Two counts of assisting hindrance of the voice's work against Ryoko Subaru. Will the Magistrate render his verdict now?" "Wait a sec!" Finn bolted up out of his chair but was roughly pushed back by one of the armed guards. He winced as the guard's hand struck him in the chest and breathing became very difficult. "You alright?" Ryoko asked quietly. Finn nodded his reply, his face still contorted in pain. She was about to grab the guard's gun and stir up some action, but she remembered Finn's request to at least try and get out of this without killing.a lot. 'Here goes,' she thought. "Magistrate, that was completely unnecessary, you know my fellow defendant is injured and is in no condition for such brutal treatment. It also goes against all POW." "You are insects!" the Magistrate boomed. "To be studied and then disposed of." "I object to this bullshit," Finn said, still catching his breath. "We have the right to security of person during detainment and." "You have no rights here." "And this sure as hell isn't a jury of my peers," Finn finished, ignoring the Magistrate. There was a certain sense of a recurring pattern going on. "You are an inferior species and have nor deserve any rights. It is common throughout history that lower forms of life are not to be treated as equals," the Magistrate said. There was a term that described the atmosphere of the 'courtroom': creepy. Only the Magistrate seemed to be allowed to talk, with the occasional exception of the guards who were called on specifically, everyone else just stared forward in silence. Finn smirked at the Magistrate's last remark. "What are you laughing about?" "You guys think you're above humans? Then why are you justifying your actions with human history?" "Silence!" "No!" Finn said with as much force as he could muster. There was a collective gasp from the audience in response to Finn's defiance. "Magistrate, before I completely give up with you people at least permit me to speak freely in my own defence. I think that even 'superior' life forms such as yourselves can grant that." There was silence. "By refusing, you'd only be proving to everyone here that you truly are no better than human beings." The Magistrate seemed reluctant to grant such a request, but carefully chewed over Finn's words. "Permission granted." "Thank you," Finn looked at the group of thirteen that he perceived to be the jury of his kangaroo court. "I have just a few things to say here and I'd appreciate it if I was not interrupted." The Magistrate eyed him suspiciously, but Finn continued on before he could say anything. The ball was already in motion. "Magistrate, I respectively request that you answer this question. In your religion is there anything that specifies that you should not kill?" "Only." "Yes or no, please." "No." Finn's heart stopped for a moment. "Come again?" he asked bewilderedly. "No, there is nothing in the holy text that condemns death," 'Aww shiiiiiiiiiiiiit,' was the thought that ran through Finn's mind. He looked at Ryoko, who looked as confused as he did and simply shrugged. 'There goes that plan.' "I am not the one on trial," the Magistrate said. "I do not have to answer your questions." "Alright," this didn't seem to discourage Finn, but Ryoko knew that his main argument had just been thrown out the window. A thought came to mind. "So if I were to kill you and everyone here, that wouldn't conflict with your ideals?" "It would only prove your race's own infectious values of hatred and violence," the Magistrate said. "But you killed hundreds of thousands when you decided to 'purge' the Utopia Colony, so wouldn't that prove that you yourself are only human?" "I said before, I am not on trial, and I am not required to answer any of your foolish and poisonous questions!" "You said that the human race is too far gone to redeem itself because of things like wars, which bring death and destruction, but you're really not any better," Finn said. "By killing people you're proving that you are human." "We are above your kind!" the Magistrate said furiously, rising from his chair and beating the end of his staff against the wooden floor. "Getting angry? Gee, let me think, anger: a human emotion." "Silence!" "You're no better than anyone else," Finn continued. "You get angry, you kill, and I'm assuming you eat, breath, and sleep like the rest of us. Face it, you're only human." "I said silence, vile boy!" "I thought you were trying to be diplomatic?" Ryoko whispered. "I am," Finn replied. "That's it, we're screwed." "Magistrate," Finn said, turning his head back towards the insane old man. "It's obvious that I can't get you to change your beliefs. I mean, I wouldn't force anyone to change their belief system, it's only fair. But can I at least ask you to change your actions? You people can live out here in the mountains away from society if you want, God knows I'm not stopping you, but is it really necessary to slaughter billions of lives? Why can't you live out your lives here, undisturbed, away from everything you hate so much, and carry on?" 'It's like a drowning man trying to keep himself afloat by grabbing onto a bucket of lead,' was the thought running through Ryoko's mind. "What are you saying?" the Magistrate asked suspiciously. "I'm trying to say that we can try and co-exist. You guys stay here and leave us alone, and we'll stay in the colonies and leave you guys alone. What do you say?" Finn asked. He didn't really expect it to work, but he had to at least give it a try, give that one-in-a-million chance the opportunity to prove the odds wrong. "I say," the Magistrate said after a while had passed. Finn looked hopeful, but not expectant. "You are a fool." "But why? Why do so many have to die? It doesn't make any sense!" Finn protested. "You simple boy," the Magistrate shook his head. "You simple, simple boy." "I don't understand." "Of course you don't!" the Magistrate rose from his seat again. "You are a mere boy. How could you possibly understand beings that have ascended beyond your level? This world must be purged of the evil of man. Mars, Earth, its moon, and your insidious space colonies must all be cleansed from the poison that has saturated your very beings! You forced us from our homes, now it is time for us to force you from yours. But we will not make the same mistake; we will not give you the same opportunity you gave us. Your destruction will be total and outright! You have desecrated the pure universe that the voice provided its people with your wars, your destructive practices, your vile and disgusting values." "I only have one thing left to say," Finn said when the Magistrate's babblings died down. "Your original plan was to use the CCs, novalite, sacred stones, whatever, to blow up colonies. How do you plan on wiping humanity off the face of the universe now that it's gone?" "That, boy," the Magistrate said. "Is none of your concern." "Then why haven't you killed us off yet? If you have it all worked out then letting either of us live is a huge liability." "You two are the chosen ones." "Which means?" "It was you two who sent the call, which means that you are the ones who will initiate your own destruction. At first we interpreted this to mean by use of the sacred stones. However, since that is no longer a possibility, we have looked further into the meaning of the text. On closer inspection, we realized that the sacred stones were never to be used to destroy you, they were merely there as the final test. The text states that both the chosen ones would come from this party. You, Ryoko Subaru, came from the cannon of darkness at the party's arms. You were an instrumentation of the force the evil possessed. You, Finn Saotome, come from another branch of the wicked tree. The cunning intuitiveness of such an evil regime is shown through you." "Get to the point," Finn demanded. "The cunning would carry the two forward. It would bring them towards the point where we could make our presence known. However, it is only through the strength of the arms that you are able to persevere, and it is the arms that have the hands that are able to unlock the doors." "Oh shit." Ryoko began. "Nuclear weapons," Finn concluded. "You mean your going to nuke the colonies and then Earth?!" "That is correct," the Magistrate said. "How quick these vermin catch on. The arms hold the keys." Finn looked at Ryoko, a senior combat pilot who would undoubtedly know where and how nuclear weapons could be obtained. The UF was scattered and confused, it would be easy to take an understaffed base. All they needed were. "The missile codes." "You have the keys, Ryoko Subaru," the Magistrate pointed his finger at her. "If you think you can get anything out of me, you can bite my ass," Ryoko said. "You will tell us." "Hold it," Finn raised his hand, cutting the Magistrate off. "If you think you're going to threaten to kill me if she doesn't tell you anything, it's a waste of a bullet." "Why would we want to kill you?" the Magistrate asked. "There are things so much worse than death." The guard standing to Finn's left, the one who had pushed him back in his chair, drew his gun and fired a shot into Finn's left shoulder. "In order to realize our ambitions." Finn flew upright and, using his good arm, grabbed the guard by the arm and twisted it around his back, causing him to drop the gun to the floor. Ryoko picked the falling gun out of the air and aimed it in the direction of the Magistrate's head. "You're ambition has made you insane," Finn said. "I was really hoping that I didn't have to resort to this, but you've left me no choice." All the other guards drew their weapons and aimed for Finn and Ryoko. "Kill either of us and you'll never get what you want, you'd have to resort to the small arms you have stashed away. And that might be very difficult, taking out an entire race with a few bombs and a couple of machine guns." "So much for diplomacy," Ryoko mumbled. "You're shoulder ok?" "I think it passed right through, I'm alright." "Fire on me and neither of you will escape this place alive," the Magistrate said calmly, seeming perfectly comfortable with the idea of a gun being aimed at his head. "I thought you said you needed us alive?" "We cannot risk letting either of you go free, sacrifices are sometimes required. If you make any move against me, you will be brought down in less than a second." "As might you be if your loyal troops open fire. And since when did you plan on letting either of us go free?" the pain from Finn's shoulder was beginning to break through the numb feeling that had taken over when the bullet hit. He tightened his grip on the guard's arm and wrenched it back a little further. "Surely, you wouldn't want to risk hitting one of your own?" "It would be an honour to die in the name of the voice," the Magistrate said. "I just love dealing with people who can't be reasoned with," Finn mumbled and glanced around the room. There were six guards in total bearing weapons. Four of them stood in the corners of the room, one beside the Magistrate to Finn's right, and the one Finn restrained. "Got any ideas?" Ryoko whispered. "They're purely defensive," Finn replied in a hushed voice. "They won't fire unless we make the first move. So that scraps the idea of a reaction-based response." "What are you.?" "Please don't talk," Finn said, wrenching the man's arm back a little. He really didn't want to cause the man any more pain, but his brain cells unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the use of force to keep him silent. He turned back to Ryoko. "Maybe we should take him out while we have the chance?" Ryoko suggested, looking at the Magistrate. "We'd both die and some other nutcase would take over." "So we're screwed." "Pretty much."  
  
Human Nature  
  
"This is foolish!" the Magistrate said. "Submit now and die with the satisfaction of helping the voice." "That's exactly the way I don't want to go," Finn replied. The situation was tense. Over half an hour had gone by and everyone was still locked in the same position. The guards still stood firmly with their guns at them, Ryoko still aimed her gun at the Magistrate's head, Finn still restrained the guard, and the spectators still stared blankly forward, seemingly unaware of the conflict occurring around them. There was a sudden crack and the sound of a man crashing to the floor. "Ryoko?" "It wasn't me," Ryoko said. There was another crack and the man Finn held cried out. Finn brought the man to the floor and Ryoko knocked the table over, providing cover from the two guards in front of the Magistrate. The guard one of the corners behind them had already been shot and the other one looked around in confusion. The cracking noise wasn't the sound of a gun being fired, so no one opened fire on Finn and Ryoko. "Where'd you get hit?" Finn asked the man, still hanging onto his arm. "What are you trying to trick me into?" he asked. "I'm trying to see if you're alright!" Finn spun the man around and saw a small bloodstain on his right arm. "It looks like it passed right through, just barely more than a graze. You'll be alright." "Are you nuts or something?" Ryoko asked, peering over the table. There was another crack and another guard fell to the floor. "I really don't want anyone to die if they don't have to," Finn said, using his good hand and his teeth to tear a strip of his shirt off and clumsily, but securely, tied it around the man's arm. "I'm getting sick of all this death." Ryoko looked around the room. The spectators still sat staring forward and the sudden crack was heard again. "What the hell is going on here?" Finn left the bewildered man and looked in the direction of where the sounds were coming from. There were small bright spots in the wall that he hadn't noticed before. There was another crack and another bright spot appeared. "Hey," he nudged the man he had bandaged. "What time of day is it?" "Two in the afternoon," he replied. "Is it a sniper?" asked Ryoko. "I think so, probably shooting from one of the hills around here," "He must be using a heat scope to look inside and tipped ammo to break through." "Where the hell did he find that kind of firepower?" Finn ducked as a bullet grazed his cheek. "He missed me." "That's because he's not aiming at you," Ryoko said. "Only UF commandos have those kind of weapons, they're usually used in hostage incidents." "So a UF sniper is shooting at us?" Finn turned to the spectators, who still stared straight ahead, unmoving. "What's wrong with these people?" "They won't move until our triumph is secured," the wounded man said. "They are the selected few who will stay behind and rebuild the universe." "I don't need to know anymore than that. Does this building have a basement?" "Yes, it does." "Magistrate!" Finn shouted. "Get these people out of here and underground! They'll be safe down there." "Who are you to give orders to us?" the Magistrate boomed. "Listen gramps," Finn leapt over the table and grabbed the old man by the collar. "Unless you want everyone here to die, you will get them out of here and underground." "Why should vermin like you care about what happens to us? You are the enemy." "I don't like to see people die needlessly. Now MOVE!" "It goes against the prophecy." "I don't care about your 'prophecy'!" Finn shouted. "Listen, let's just cut the crap here for a sec.hold on." a thought struck him. "Hey, Saotome!" Ryoko said as she stood up. "I think it's stopped, all the armed guys are down." "Ryoko!" Finn tackled her and they were both sent crashing to the floor, causing Ryoko to drop the gun. "What are you doing?" she demanded and reached for the gun. Sawdust suddenly exploded out of the floor as shots hit between her and the gun. "Wait, Finn pinned her to the floor. "He's shooting at everyone with a gun's heat signature on them. He'll probably pick you off if he sees you." "Enough!" the Magistrate rose from his chair. Dropping his staff, he picked up the gun from one of the fallen guards and came around the other side of the table where Ryoko and Finn were. "I command you, cease this madness at once or I shall end both of your miserable lives!" "Are you crazy?" Finn answered. "I can't stop that sniper, the only way he'll stop shooting is if you." "I said stop your witchcraft at once! You have desecrated this holy temple with your evil ways, and I will tolerate no further contamination!" the Magistrate fired a shot into Finn's already wounded shoulder. "The blood of my kin has blessed this land, and now you come here to soil the sanctity of it these arrows of evil? I will not tolerate it! The only way to pay for the blood of my fallen kin is with yours! Our ideals, our purpose can be instrumented with you, but it can also be made truth without you! I bid thee farewell on your journey of your demise!" Finn looked at the gun a few feet away. It was too risky to make a grab for it with the sniper still in wait. 'Why doesn't he take out this guy? What's taking so long?' he thought. His chest ached and each breath was laboriously slow and painful. "What are you waiting for?" Finn asked, pulling himself upright. "You want to shoot me, so why not do it?" "I've waited a long time for this." "So why prolong your wait? You could be sitting there looking at my corpse right now if you wanted to." "You.you will die!" the Magistrate's hands shook. "A lot of people have wanted me dead," Finn went on. "So it would be quite an accomplishment to bring me down. A lot of people would probably be pretty jealous if they found out you finally managed to do what they couldn't." The Magistrate fired a shot, but his hands shook so badly that it simply grazed Finn's head, literally splitting hairs in two. "What do you have to say now?" Finn blinked a few times. "Scary!" the Magistrate shot at him again and Finn sidestepped the bullet. 'Where are you Mr. Sniper when I really need you?' the Magistrate continued to fire, but Finn continued to barely dodge the bullets by reading the trajectory of the gun's barrel. "Whoa!" he cried when he tripped over his own feet and landed on his back, hard. He could feel the wound in his back scream at him as he hit the floor. "You are a very fortunate man, Mr. Saotome," the Magistrate said, brining the gun level with Finn's face. "I'm out of bullets." "Actually," Finn said, his chest painfully heaving air in and out of his lungs. "By my count, you should have one more shot left." "Don't poison my mind with your filthy lies!" "If you're so convinced, then why not see for yourself?" Finn heaved. "I'm injured, defenceless, and weak. It shouldn't be too hard to pull the trigger." "I.I will kill you!" the Magistrate shouted. "Then do it, for crying out loud. Put me out of my misery, maybe then I could get some sleep for once," Finn said. Still no sniper shots. "You will die!" The Magistrate's hands shook so much that he nearly lost his grip on the gun. "You must die!" There was a long pause. "You can't do it, can you?" Finn concluded. "I can kill you, I will kill you!" "You little liar," Finn shook his head. "You can't kill anyone, can you? All this time you've had other people do your dirty work, while you kept your hands free of blood. You're afraid to carryout your threats because you don't want to soil yourself." "Lies!" "And that whole 'killing is ok' thing, that was all crap," Finn went on. "As long as someone else does it, that's fine, but you couldn't stand to have blood spilled on your hands directly." "It is not true! Ending your miserable existence in the name of the voice would be an honour!" "Then prove me wrong," Finn shut his eyes. A slow clicking noise could be heard as the Magistrate's finger slowly began to pull the trigger. There was a sudden, yet unfamiliar, crack and the sound of a body falling to the floor. Finn opened his eyes and saw the Magistrate's limp body laying in a pile on the floor. Looking slightly to his right, he saw the wounded man holding the smoking gun. The man looked at Finn with a confused, but relieved, look on his face. "Thanks," the man patted the strip Finn had tied around his arm. There was another sudden crack and the man slumped to the floor. A small trail of smoke rose from the man's chest, where the bullet had entered. Finn crawled over to him and rolled him onto his back. Ryoko knelt down beside him and looked at the wound. The bullet had hit his chest, very close to the heart. Blood was seeping through the wound and slowly dripping onto the floor. Finn wanted to ask if he was alright, but that seemed kind of redundant at this point. He helped the man up a little to rest his back against the overturned table. He was still alive, but he could tell that that could change any second. "Did the bullet come out?" Ryoko asked. "I don't think so," Finn said, taking a glance at where the man had fallen. "He's not in good shape, bleeding badly." "And we're out in the middle of nowhere to boot. If we could stop the bleeding he might last long enough for us to get him to a hospital, if there's one a few hours from here." "Don't give up on us now," Finn said to the man. "We'll get you some help, somehow." Even though he knew his words would probably never be made truthful, he felt that he should at least try and comfort him in some way. It was better than just leaving him there to die alone. "It's ok," the man said. "Really, it's ok." "I would hardly consider this even close to ok," Finn said. "What's your name?" "Tsukumo.Tsukumo Shiratori." "Shiratori?" Finn and Ryoko repeated. "What the hell are you doing here? When did your faction become part of Shokaract?" Finn asked. "They never told me where I came from," Shiratori barely said. "I was always brought up as a Successor. I never knew where I came from." "Don't worry, friend. We'll get you out of here." "You don't have to do that," he said weakly. "The Successors." he struggled to say. "Don't try to talk," Finn said, searching desperately for something to put on the bubbling wound in Shiratori's chet. "This has to be said," Shiratori went on. "The Successors.they're not as bad as you think. The Magistrate.he twisted their beliefs, made them hate, made them kill. Don't let them die.not because of him. Please, Saotome, Subaru, don't let it happen to them. Don't let them pay the price for his mistakes." Finn looked around at the people still sitting in the room. They were all still facing forward, not a muscle moving, nor an eye blinking. "I remember you two.from before. As soon as I heard your names this morning, I knew who you were." "The UF troops'll be here any second now," Ryoko said. "Chances are they'll kill everyone in this room, us included." "Listen to me," Shiratori grasped one of Finn's hands. "These are my family and friends. Yukina, she's there too. Saotome, Subaru, don't let anything happen to them." He convulsed in pain and hung onto life by a thread. "Please." He took a final breath before the seductive calling from the eternal sleep was too much to fight against. Finn shut his eyes, brimming with tears. "Damnit all!" he cried, driving his fist into the wood flooring. Shiratori had been the enemy twice; once in this world and once in the previous one, but in both cases he had risen above the hateful and destructive beliefs that he had been brought up by, and had saved both Finn and Ryoko's lives on more than one occasion. "I can't stand it any more!" he pounded his fist against the floor again in frustration. He then caught a wiff of something peculiar rising from Shiratori's body. He stared at the bullet wound for a moment before gently touching it with his fingers, which he then brought to his nose to smell. "Almonds." he wiped the blood on his shirt. "Cyanide. They didn't even give him a chance." "Finn," Ryoko looked at him with understanding pity. "I can't do this anymore," he said. "Well, as much as it sucks, you can't give up just yet. This place will be swarming in UF soldiers in a few seconds, minutes if we're lucky. Like it or not, this place is going to be a war zone." "Nu uh," Finn said. "Not this time, not again." He slipped his hands beneath the fallen Shiratori and, with an agonizing cry from his wounded shoulder, lifted him up off the floor. He then began to walk down the narrow space between the rows of seats, Shiratori's blood slowly dripping down and spatting on the floor as he passed. Ryoko stayed behind; this was Finn's fight, not hers. As he passed, the spectators slowly turned their heads and followed him with their eyes. Finn paused for a moment and caught Yukina's eyes, which were frightened and confused. However, before she could even utter so much as a cry, he continued on. He paused again for a moment when he reached the door and said: "You can stay here if you want, but that'll probably mean a lot more digging for me. It's your choice." He carried Shiratori outside and across the small village to a bright, grassy spot. He put him down for a moment and grabbed a shovel, which was propped up against one of the buildings, and began to dig.  
  
The Final Battle  
  
Finn gently patted the dirt over Shiratori's body and rose for a moment of silence. This was the last friend he intended to loose and the last life he intended to see end. He picked up two stones, a large flat one and a small one with a sharp tip at its end. Holding the flat stone firmly against the ground, he used the sharp tip of the other stone to slowly carved a few words into it. "Tsukumo Shiratori. A fallen friend and ally, and the last to die in my arms." The chopping sound of a helicopter exploded from over a hill. It hovered above the building Finn had come out of just a little while before. Finn didn't bother to look over and watch the soldiers slide down lines and form a circle around him. He heard their guns arm and their boots scrape across the ground as they slowly approached. The helicopter flew off again into the hills and they were soon surrounded by the soft noises of the Martian mountains. "Hands in the air!" came a voice from behind. Finn continued to stare at the fresh grave he had just finished. The wind blew the dust off the headstone and it sparkled in the bright sun. "I said hands in the air!" Finn remained motionless. "You have until the count of one to put your hands in the air! Three, two." "You don't need to fire at me," Finn said, slowly raising his arms above his head. "I am Lieutenant Finn Saotome of the high-mobile battleship Nadesico, or Detective Finn Saotome of the Utopia Colony Police, take your pick, I don't really care which." "You're Saotome?" the solider who appeared to be the group's commander asked. "He is wearing the clothes the hospital said he was in, sir," another added. "Detective," the commander said, lowering his weapon slightly. "Please hold out your hand." Finn did so and the commander turned to one of his subordinate officers, who immediately complied with the unspoken orders and pricked Finn's finger with a small pinlike device with a cord leading into a small palmpad. "He's the real deal, sir," he said, looking up from the DNA database programme. "Where is Pilot Subaru? Is she still with you? What's going on here?" the commander turned to his men. "Search the building." "Commander," Finn said, turning around to face the man. "I respectfully request that none of the people here be harmed in any way." Everyone stopped and stared at him. "Call it a friend's last request," he added, looking back at the grave. "Detective," the commander said, moving up beside him. "What happened here?" "There's no threat to neutralize, commander," Finn replied. "Your sniper has already taken care of that, and then some. You don't need to kill anyone." "You didn't answer my question." "I apologize," Finn said and related the past few weeks' events in their entirety, with the exception of a few somewhat questionable actions he had taken to deal with the novalite deposit and Akatsuki. "So you're saying that the head of the Shokaract is dead?" the commander asked when Finn had finished. The other soldiers still encircled him, but more out of curiosity than standing to attention in the presence of their commanding officer. "That's correct. Your sniper took him out, along with all the armed men in the room," Finn replied. "The last of his targets," he looked at the grave. "Was a friend of mine. He told me that the Successors were not originally hostile, that they're organization was manipulated by a man known as the Magistrate, who was sniped. Now that the driving force behind their aggressive and murderous intentions is gone, there is no need to kill anyone here." "Are you siding with the Successors?" "You crazy? They're all loonybins as far as I'm concerned, but that's not the point. The point is that without the Magistrate pulling their strings, they won't try and blow up any more colonies or military installations." "Do you honestly believe that your friend was telling the truth? It may be possible he told you those things just to buy his companions some time, perhaps.look, what I'm trying to say here is that he very well may have been lying to deceive you, to trick you into." "You can think that if you want," Finn interrupted. "But that doesn't change what happened here. Tell me, what were the orders you were given when you departed on this mission?" "We were ordered to neutralize all hostile threats in the vicinity and take control of this village." "Who gave you these orders?" "The Supreme Commander himself gave us our orders, but he didn't specify specifically. I decided to call in a sniper team to clear any preliminary threats before we stormed the village. I didn't want any of my men to be in any danger that they didn't have to be. My unit commander, Admiral Misumaru gave me tertiary orders that stated the bodies of Pilot Subaru and yourself were also to be recovered." "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint your unit commander, but I'd rather not go home in a body bag," Finn said. "So you were not given orders to kill everyone here?" "Not specifically," the commander replied uneasily. "It was an official briefing and." he trailed off. "The Supreme Commander wanted to make this sound like a recovery mission, not genocide," Finn finished. "I take my orders at face value, Detective. I was ordered to neutralize all hostile threats and secure the area, nothing more." "What will happen to the people here?" "We will detain them until all relevant information has been extracted. What happens after that is as much a mystery to me as it is to you." "Is it possible for all those that had nothing to do with Shokaract's attacks to remain here under observation?" "I wouldn't know, Detective," the commander said firmly. "I'm just a soldier carrying out my orders, and that's what I have to do now." He turned to his men. "Search the buildings and bring everyone to the main building here. Check for any traps, this area is potentially dangerous. Detective Saotome, where is Pilot Subaru?" "In the main building over there," Finn motioned. "Men, bring her out here. We'll have the chopper pick them up. Alright? Move!" "Yes, sir!" they said enthusiastically and moved off in pairs of two.  
  
"One more question," Finn said as the commander was about to move off to search with his troops. "How'd you find us out here anyway?" "We received information from someone here on the surface. They hacked into the lunar base's communications system and broadcasted a text message on every channel. I guess whoever it was wanted to make sure that we got it. We also received information regarding Nergal's involvement. Why do you ask?" Finn looked at him. "Ok, stupid question." A little while later, Ryoko was lead to Finn, who lay on his back in the grass and stared at the Martian sky. He didn't look upset, or angry in any way, nor did he look relieved or content. In fact, he didn't look like anything. There was no expression on his face. It was as if his spirit had left his body and was off wandering somewhere else. "Finn ?" she asked, sitting down beside him. She didn't really expect an answer, but it was better than sitting there in total silence. A few minutes passed in an eerie kind of silence and she eventually caved and lay down beside him. The sky was it's usual redish-blue. There was nothing particularly fascinating about it; it was the same sky she'd always known on Mars. It was hard to believe that they had actually come this far. It was equally hard to believe what they had actually gone through to get there. To anyone else, it would have been impossible to tell what Finn was thinking about. Someone might even have thought Finn was dead based on his lack of movement, but Ryoko knew exactly what was running through his mind, and it was the same train of thought running down the rails in her mind as well. The author considers going on some long reflection of how Finn and Ryoko had come so far, but it's past 3 o'clock in the morning and his ass has become rooted to his chair from sitting there so long. So let's get on to the good stuff. Ryoko's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a helicopter's blades slicing through the air. A few moments later, she saw it burst out from behind and hill and circle wide over the small village. Finn continued to stare off into space, but Ryoko followed the helicopter with her eyes. It landed at the centre of the village a few moments later, kicking up a large cloud of dust as it touched down. Its blades continued to rotate, but the dust finally settled, and the commander made his way to where Finn and Ryoko lay on the ground. "That's the chopper that's going to take you two out of here," he said. Another helicopter came into view as it came out from behind the hills and made its way towards the village centre. It landed not far from the other helicopter, kicking up an equally blinding cloud of dust as it touched down. The commander left them and rushed over to meet the second team that piled out of the machine. Finn followed him with his eyes and watched as the second team formed two parallel lines perpendicular to the helicopter's main doors. A single man stepped down and onto the ground and proceeded down the invisible red carpet that had been lain out for him. From Finn's vantage point, he could see that the man was obviously a UF admiral, black hair and a black moustache, it all seemed vaguely familiar to him. He watched cautiously as the admiral approached, followed by troops as me walked towards the pair. "Greetings, Detective Saotome," he said. "And you too, Pilot Subaru. I'm glad to see you two made it. We weren't sure if we had made it in time, but I see that you appear relatively unharmed." Finn lifted his head off the grass and looked at the man. "I am Admiral Misumaru, commander of the third fleet, United Space Forces. We received tip that you might be around here and in need of some assistance." With great effort, Finn managed to pull himself upright. His whole body ached and he was beyond exhaustion, both mental and physical. He was at the point where his body had become accustomed to the pain resonating from his chest and his shoulder and the thought of resting seemed like an impossibility. "Hang on there," Ryoko said, grabbing hold of him as he was about to fall to the ground again. She swung his arm around her neck and held him up. "I apologize, sir. We've been fighting a long time." "For which the United Forces are very apologetic, I assure you," Admiral Misumaru said. "But there will be time to talk later. First thing's first, we're going to fly you both out of this dump and back to civilization. This time you won't have to worry about any unwanted intrusions, I promise you." "How did you find us out here?" Finn asked, not so much that he needed to know, but he wanted to make sure of his own assumptions. Admiral Misumaru cleared his throat and looked nervously around at the soldiers. "Would you men excuse us for a moment?" "Yes, sir," the commander said, giving a salute and walked away in the direction of the helicopters. "It was Ruri, wasn't it," Finn said. "That's correct. You must understand that I do not wish that piece of information to become public knowledge. It would be a public relations disaster, surely you understand." "I understand," Finn replied grimly. As much as he hated to admit it, the UF had saved his ass. But what was to stop him from sending 'accidental' and anonymous e-mail to the news stations? If word of this got out, if the public knew the truth behind the Successors, Nergal, and the UF, the UF's control would crumble. It was a very tempting thought, that the UF could finally be brought to justice for all the things they had done. "You must also understand that our actions here, specifically the request that you two be brought back alive, if possible, are a personal favour for my daughter. We originally had planned on bombing the village and everyone in it, but she requested that a small team be sent in to determine whether or not you were alive." "I understand, sir," Finn said, adding the sir to wash away any signs of what he had been concocting. "Pilot Subaru?" "Yes, sir. I understand," Ryoko said. "Sir, with permission, I request to leave the service." "Why would you want to do that? There is already a field promotion and honours ceremony planned for you, so why would you want to leave now? Not to mention you're service record.I don't think I even have to comment on your commendable efforts both prior and during this whole ordeal." Ryoko seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say. The truth being that she didn't know exactly what she wanted. She'd always planned on a career in the military ever since her father had taken her to the air base when she was only a few years of age. But everything she thought she had been fighting for all this time was a lie. She had been tricked and lied to, both here and before reality shifted. All her life, everything she thought she was fighting for was all false. She took a look around her. Even thought the village looked quiet and peaceful, it represented everything she wanted to erase from her life. All the death and deceit, she didn't want to further those lies anymore. She didn't want to be merely a cog in the machine again. "With all due respect, sir, I would like to pursue another path in life. I believe that recent events have caused me to alter my outlook on military service, and feel that I can no longer receive and follow orders without questioning them." She unpinned her pilot's wings and handed them over to the admiral, who looked at them with a unrestrained disappointment. "I'm sorry." "I understand," he said, tucking the pin into his pocket. "You will be sorely missed, Pilot. I wish you luck on whatever path you choose to follow." He looked at Finn. "You look as though you could use a little patching up." "I get that a lot," Finn said, still relying heavily on Ryoko to remain standing. 'Why is it that I'm always the one who gets shot?' he asked himself. "Well then, let's get you out of here. The sooner we leave, the sooner you can get home." Admiral Misumaru led them towards the helicopter he had arrived in. One of the pilots was loitering in the shade cast by the machine against the sun and opened the doors for them to board. "Excuse me, Admiral," Finn said as they were about to climb in. "What's going to happen to the people here? I told the commander of the team that arrived here first that their leader has been taken out, and that there is no longer any real threat of more attacks from them." He looked back at where he had buried Shiratori. "I also promised a friend that I wouldn't let anything happen to them." "Don't worry, we have no intention of harming them. We just want to get some information out of them, that's all. I won't have your promise broken." "Sir? Are we almost ready to take off?" the pilot asked before the admiral could say anything more. "Yes, we're almost ready." He turned to Finn and Ryoko. "Climb in." Ryoko climbed in first and helped Finn up. The engines were started up and the noise of the blades above them slowly began to grow. However, as Finn was climbing up, he barely heard a noise over the blades. He looked over and saw small holes explode out of the main building's side. But before he could do anything, the admiral pushed him up into his seat, climbed up, and closed the door. "Admiral," Finn said, his blood boiling. "I thought you said nothing was going to happen to them?" Admiral Misumaru looked at Finn for a moment as the helicopter slowly rose into the air and began to fly away. Finn looked behind them and watched as the building began to smoke and was soon enveloped in flames. In response to Finn's question, the admiral handed him a small folder and motioned for him to read its contents. "A war-game accident?!" "That's right," Admiral Misumaru said. "A trainer aircraft accidentally missed its target and hit an uninhabited town mock-up." Finn was about to protest when the admiral spoke again. "This is a favour on behalf of Yurika. You were transferred from the Olympus Hospital in New Wellington to a military hospital for closer observation." Ryoko looked ready to punch his lights out. "I would hate to have to tell her that you two were killed in a helicopter crash on your journey home." Finn grit his teeth and stared furiously at Admiral Misumaru's eyes. There wasn't anything he could do anymore. If he were to take action now, both he and Ryoko would probably end up in a ditch somewhere. Every part of his being told him to tear the man sitting across from him apart, but there was no way he could do that. It would only cause more pain and more suffering; it would only bring him closer to his own grave and would only cause Yurika anguish. He had failed to keep his promise to Shiratori. "You son of a bitch," Finn muttered as he sat back and helplessly stared at the small trail of smoke that was rising into the air until it slowly faded from sight. "I'm sorry," Admiral Misumaru said. "But we can't allow the Successors to survive. They have caused untold devastation and death. Surely you understand, you witnessed what happened at the Pole and saw the aftermath of the Utopia Colony disaster. Yurika told me fiancé was killed, my condolences, but don't you want to pay them back for what they did?" Finn continued to stare out the window. "That's just the point. The more we push, the harder they'll push back. If we don't give them a reason to fight, then there's little chance they will. Besides, I've already had my revenge." "And you don't feel satisfied?" "No, I don't." "So then you would want to make the Successors pay and satisfy your revenge," Admiral Misumaru concluded. "No! Stop twisting my words around. Look, revenge won't get anyone anywhere. We kill them, they'll kill us. We bomb them, they bomb us. It just goes back and forth like a frickin ping pong ball until everyone forgets what they're fighting for. No one wants to stop unless they get the last laugh, so it doesn't stop, not until one side exterminates the other," Finn turned to face the admiral. "But it's all pretty redundant now. They're dead, you've won, they lost." There was a slight pause. "Idiots," Finn muttered  
  
Ruri's Logs  
  
Today was my 18th birthday, or at least, that's what has been decided. Since I was born in a laboratory and raised under mysterious circumstances, I have no idea what my real date of birth is. The Tenkawas have decided that today, June 15th, will be the day we celebrate. This day holds special significance not because it has been dubbed my birthday, but because it was at this time six years ago, that I first joined the crew of the Nadesico, and participated in the greatest conflict ever known to man kind. Of course, there are only a handful of people who actually know that conflict even existed since Mr. Saotome destroyed the jump computer. As far as I know, only Mr. Tenkawa, the Captain, Lt. Saotome, and Miss. Subaru know what happened. I suppose that I shouldn't call her Captain anymore, due to the fact there isn't a ship to run nor a crew to command. I have taken to calling Mr. Tenkawa "Akito", primarily because he requested it. "I don't feel I warrant that kind if title from you," was what he said. The Captain also requested that I refer to her as Yurika, or at the very least as Mother, but Captain is the only name I have ever felt comfortable with. I don't expect anyone to understand, nor do I wish them to ponder my decision too any great extent. Lt. Saotome, however, does seem to comprehend why I have taken such a preference to calling Mrs. Yurika Tenkawa by her assigned rank in a reality that no longer exists. He is a strange man, Finn Saotome. During the party, the only thing that dampened his spirits was the arrival of the Captain's father, Admiral Misumaru. They spent the remainder of the evening exchanging suspicious glances. I know Lt. Saotome despises him for what he did to the Successors, but his hands are tied. I'm sure he's probably plotting some kind of coup to seize the reigns of power and bring him to justice, but his resolution never to kill again probably keeps his plans to the drawing board. He and Miss. Subaru are now living in a nearby apartment building in the rebuilt Utopia Colony. Mr. Saotome has returned to his job as a detective with the Utopia Colony Police. Two years ago, Miss. Subaru attended university and later applied to take the Martian Police Examinations. She passed with, as Lt. Saotome put it, "flying colours" and is currently working as an interrogation expert and S.W.A.T. team strategist with the police. I suppose old habits die hard. However, they appear to both be content with their lives. Mr. Saotome gave me an interesting gift during the celebration held at the restaurant this past evening. Akito and the Captain presented me with my usual preferences, more data to input into the Omoikane system I am currently developing. Miss. Subaru gave me a rather.unusual gift. It was a paintball gun equipped with an electric hopper, laser scope, and long-range sniper barrel. I am not used to strange customs such as celebratory events, but I appreciate the gesture. Miss Subaru stated that she would instruct me how to "kick ass". I will leave my feelings towards such instruction undisclosed at the present time. However, Lt. Saotome presented me with the most interesting gift; a small hardbound notebook. Inside the cover he scribbled "You'll find this very educational," I have taken to studying the world around me and recording my personal observations into this notebook, this being one such occasion since this is my first page of notes. I have yet to know for certain why Lt. Saotome kept a notebook in the previous reality. Surely with his sparkling mental health (although that could be heavily argued against) he has no need for a record of his observations. I have found observing him to be very educational. However, upon reading this first entry, I have noticed that I am straying considerably distant from my original intentions. The United Forces publicly released its reports from the 2196 Disaster Season, more commonly referred to as the Martian Big Bang. I have read it in its entirety and have a more detailed idea as to why Lt. Saotome resents the UF. According to the report, a small meteorite struck the Utopia Colony's centre and exploded on impact, creating a shockwave that destroyed nearly every structure in the colony. The tremor generated by the sudden force of the meteorite caused many of the underground gas lines to rupture, creating widespread fires, thereby furthering the destruction. The other colonies thought that there had simply been some kind of power failure that prevented them from contacting anyone within the colony. Even after a month had passed and there was still no word from Utopia, the other colonies still figured that it was a power failure. It wasn't until Akito boson jumped to the Antarctic to assist Lt. Saotome and Miss. Subaru that anyone actually heard what had happened. There were only 421 survivors of this disaster. More than 98% of the buildings within the colony were turned to rubble. As for the Antarctic installation, the UF has come up with an even more nauseating cause. There was a weapon's malfunction in one of the ordinance bays that caused a chain reaction of explosions that eventually cause the base's nuclear reactor to meltdown. It is truly amazing what some people can come up with to avoid looking stupid. However, the UF did admit that Nergal had secretly funded certain terrorist organizations with intentions of taking control of Mars and its colonies. But due to the fact that Akatsuki was later found dead at where the Antarctic used to be, there are very few people to prosecute. Only the high level executives were under investigation, and none of them were found guilty of treason after Nergal donated over three trillion credits to the UF. I will leave Lt. Saotome's reaction to that for later entry.  
  
End of Act 11  
The End  
Omake!  
  
"Wait a second, Finn," Ryoko said as they continued on their ride back home. "We don't want to end the fanfic this way, do we?" "Good call, let's do the Scoobie Doo ending!" replied Finn. The screen became fuzzy and the picture faded away.  
  
Akatsuki sat tied to a chair while Finn and Ryoko stood facing him with their arms crossed. "It's time to find out who you really are," Finn said, stepping closer. He grabbed Akatsuki's chin and pulled off the mask. "It's Old Man Wuithers from the haunted amusement park!" "That's right!" the old man said. "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you darn kids!"  
  
The End (For real this time) 


End file.
